Every time I have an opportunity to get in front of an audience, I make sure to remind everyone to protect their medical card as much as they protect or should protect their credit cards -- the issue is looming larger and larger...this was just out today:

Five years after discovering that thieves had stolen his medical identity and rung up bills to the tune of thousands, Brandon Sharp is still "cleaning up the mess." The New York Times reports on the growing prevalence of medical identity theft, which some say will see a sharp upturn in numbers as White House plans to digitize the health records of all Americans come to fruition. "Without aggressive safeguards," says Pam Dixon of the World Privacy Forum, "we could be building an infrastructure for massive medical fraud." The report illustrates the lack of consumer protections for medical ID theft victims and how HIPAA privacy rules can actually impede clean up.

Talk About Targeting...During a panel discussion about online advertisers' behavioral targeting practices at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference in Washington, DC June 3rd, top lawyers for two behavioral advertisers expressed their support for privacy legislation and more industry self-regulation, reports Internetnews.com. "We think self-regulation and legislation can work well together," said Microsoft Associate General Counsel Mike Hintze. Google Chief Privacy Officer Jane Horvath, CIPP/G, said that her company supports "an omnibus privacy statute." Congress, the FTC and advocacy groups continue their scrutiny of the practice, which lets advertisers deliver tailored ads to Web users based on their browsing histories.

Singing the Opt-Out Blues

Another point panelists and audience members agreed upon during a discussion on behavioral targeting at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference in Washington, DC on June 3rd, was that opting out of targeting advertising is difficult reports PCWorld. "It's difficult today for people to understand what's going on and how they can opt out," said Microsoft's Mike Hintze. But moving to an opt-in approval method, as advocated by Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz, would require collecting more personal information from users, said Google CPO Jane Horvath, CIPP/G. Hintze added that targeted ads are more valuable to consumers and advertisers, but Jessica Rich from the FTC's Privacy & Identity Protection division said: "The FTC is concerned that data collection is disproportionate to the benefits that are achieved."

The Privacy Guru says stay tuned...and stay aware and alert!!!

The Clareity Security group has done it again! Matt Cohen’s latest: A Study of Multiple Listing Service Public Listings Websites is a revealing piece of research about the state of MLSs and their websites. When we speak of the future of the Multiple Listing Service and the integration the next levels of technology Matt's work points the way!

This timely research just brings up again the importance of knowing both your legal as well as technological responsibilities to consumers as well as your members, plus the gravity of what your “vendors” or “service providers” or website developers or hosts are doing or not doing and the protection of your intellectual property.

It is unfortunate that 90% of the real estate industry (based on the report) hasn’t come to realize that there is oodles of legal liability lurking on their websites . The FTC, FCC and DOJ are surfing the Internet now and fining firms, like Target and many others, that are not in compliance with the vast array of Internet regulations.

Just to be clear, the information 'security' side of the house, Clareity's area of mastery, is about information technology and business continuity assets. An entirely different matter is the legal 'privacy', 'intellectual property' and 'liability' side of the house. Check out Is Your Website a Legal Privacy Risk? to find out what’s what for yourself. If you want to know and where your website stands, you can take our quick Privacy Quiz right now.

Mobile Spam- A lot of it

There are Billions (with a B) of text messages – yes it is an instantaneous method of communication and I love it! As a matter of fact it is my preferred method of communication for contact. But I do not under any circumstances appreciate receiving commercial text messages…it bothers me, a lot!!!! I am very happy to report that two United States Senators have introduced a bill to curb mobile spam as reported by CNET News.

And...if your mobile number is not on the official Do Not Call Registry, I suggest you put in there.

Darity’s Data Diatribe

Daily out here in the privacy and information security world, there are surveys and reports and numerous revelations about the loss of data or the loss of services by surreptitious means. And it’s not just me…Businesses risk losing over $1 trillion (that’s a lot of 0s!) from loss or theft of data and other cybercrimes, according to a study released recently by McAfee.

Yet constantly, I hear brokers, agents and MLS executives and even those in the real estate data advertising industry who are just totally lacking in the consciousness of the need to pay attention to where and what their data is doing.

Data is a commodity these days, an important one. One to be paid attention to. One to protect when necessary. One that is an exceedingly valuable asset. If data is lost, stolen, or misused it subjects companies to fines, penalties, and lawsuits together with potential public relations disasters.

What can bring all this together? How can we raise the consciousness of the real estate industry to think, think, think about their listing content and its value? Are YOU in?

TACOs anyone?

One of the most interesting situations arising from the aggregation of all the data we are putting out there on the Internet, including us consummate social networkers is "behavioral advertising" and it is becoming a menace in my opinion.

My bigger concern is User Generated Content (UGC) but that's another issue for another harangue.

While behavioral advertising is a long-term issue yet to be resolved, a brilliant someone named Christopher Soghoian has come up with a short-term solution called TACO that makes cookies unpalatable to your computer by providing a permanent opt-out of 27 advertising networks that use behavioral advertising systems.

I thought we ought to share it with all our Privacy Solutions friends and relations so here is your very own TACO link. If you want to find out more about this here is an article in PC World about it.

So, check this out and report back if you hear anything about it or have any personal experiences with this TACO plug in, k?

~Darity

Our Tax Dollars at Work for the Positive- Really!

There is a great new free resource tool from the Federal Citizen Information Center I recommend to you so you can become a savvy consumer in these interesting times we are living in right now. It's great to find a source where you can find out things that are important to be on the alert for, what you need to pay attention to and what to make decisions on you can be very helpful. This Consumer Action Guide covers information on loans, financing education, everything about cars, health care, credit and housing an much more.

You know what the Privacy Guru® says: Always stay aware and alert…and being and staying informed is an important part of that preparation…

Order the 2009 Consumer Action Handbook. This everyday guide to being a smart shopper is hot off the press and chock-full of helpful tips about preventing identity theft, understanding credit, filing a consumer complaint, and much more. In the 2009 edition, you'll find updated information about filing for bankruptcy, finding a lawyer, and planning a funeral, along with many other useful topics.