It has come to our attention that spammers have been using the @privacyrights.org email address to send fake emails (spam). These emails do NOT come from PRC. They are forgeries. They will show the sender as a fake person that is NOT affiliated with PRC. The address will appear as FakeUser@privacyrights.org.
As the holidays approach, consumers are more likely to be visiting crowded stores and malls. Scam artists and fraudsters know this, so they are likely to be lurking there too. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse is pleased to offer these helpful tips to protect yourself during this often hectic holiday season.
Consumers often are coerced into providing an SSN as a means of authentication or verification, where appropriate authentication could be achieved through other means. Our PRC consumer hotline receives numerous calls from concerned individuals who are reluctant to provide this information either by telephone or online. They have heard the warnings about guarding their SSNs to protect themselves from identity theft. Yet paradoxically, they are afraid to take advantage of two important services that can help reduce their potential exposure to identity theft.
California adopted the first data security breach notification law, codified at Cal. Civ. Code Section 1798.80 et seq., effective July 1, 2003. nearly 40 other states have since adopted similar laws modeled after, but not the same as, the California law. Presently pending in Congress are several bills that would adopt a variant of the California model on a nationwide basis, including the Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act of 2007, S.239 (introduced January 10, 2007).
HealthVault is Microsoft's new service for storing, managing, and accessing a patient's medical information. www.healthvault.com It operates as an online encrypted service. The service offers a voluntary opportunity for medical records to be collected by aggregating information from various sources including health-care providers, insurance companies, and compatible medical devices (such as blood pressure monitoring devices).
My Space Isn't Your Space:
Updating Federal Law to Address Employers' Use of
Social Networking Sites for Hiring Decisions
(Davis,16 Kan. J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 237, 2007)
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) has been in the forefront in asserting that pharmacies -- and their marketing partners, the big pharmaceutical companies -- act improperly when using the medical information in customer prescriptions to mail letters or call customers in order to sell more drugs.
If this happened to you or someone in your family, please let us know. It could be very helpful to the outcome of the lawsuit.
The PRC advises that most consumers should not use or carry a debit or check card. The guide explains the eight major shortcomings of these cards and suggests alternatives for consumers to consider. Paul Stephens, PRC’s Director of Policy and Advocacy, elaborated, “Scammers have become quite sophisticated in gaining access to your card information. Most people don’t realize that lost, stolen, or compromised debit cards can provide an open door for fraudsters to empty your bank account."
Two easily identifiable problems with the increased use of background checks are the potential for errors and past mistakes haunting people for far too long. But, in addition to these problems, there are societal concerns about lack of privacy, ceding judgment to a computer database, and potential over-reliance on a person’s past behavior.
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC)1 is pleased to comment on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR)2 to simplify the consumer disclosures required by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLB”). With only a few minor suggestions, the PRC endorses and fully supports the model form adopted by the agencies. We direct our comments as follows:
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