Resolve to Be a Privacy Advocate in 2010

We at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse wish you a happy, prosperous and private new year.  This year, resolve to be a privacy advocate.  Use our 10 tips to minimize your risk of identity theft, protect your personal information and assert your rights to privacy. 

Our guide for 2010 will teach you how to be assertive in defending your privacy, find out how much of your personal information is stored in consumer reports and exercise caution while using online social networks.

Why Privacy?

Your personal information is more than your name, address and Social Security number. It includes your shopping habits, driving record, medical diagnoses, work history, credit score and much more.

The right to privacy refers to having control over this personal information. It is the ability to limit who has this information, how this information is kept and what can be done with it.

Unfortunately, personal privacy is lost, unknowingly forfeited, purchased or stolen every day.

Featured Fact Sheet:

Protecting Your Telephone Records: Does Your Carrier’s Privacy Policy Ring True? 34

We have more than 50 Privacy Fact Sheets. Click here to see the rest.

When you pick up your telephone and punch in a number, you expect that the contact is just between you and the person you call. Sure, you know your telephone carrier logs your phone’s activity. After all, a record of your mobile phone calls appears on your monthly telephone bill. And the bill for your landline phone includes information on calls made to phone numbers outside the local zone. But, what you don’t expect is that someone could use your calling history to pry into your personal life, even to physically harm you.

Since 1996, federal communications laws have required telephone companies to protect the confidentiality of your telephone calls. Despite this restriction, in the years after 1996 instances of unauthorized access to telephone records exploded. This guide explains the current efforts to stop unauthorized access to your telephone records. It offers suggestions on how to protect your records, and it provides resources for additional reading.