A few years ago, I received an unwelcome email from Ohio University, my Alma Mater. Evidently, a hard drive with information about every student from way back whenever was improperly disposed of. My records, including Social Security number and other personal data, happened to have been on this hard drive.If I recall correctly, the school did take action. (A) They notified us, the potential identity theft victims, and (B) they fired two IT personnel, as if that would somehow help prevent my future identity theft should this info get into the wrong hands.
I graduated Ohio University in 1974. The incident, three decades later, is a somewhat unnerving reminder of how vulnerable we are. How many people have your personal data? How many schools have you attended, places where you have worked, banks that you have done business with, mortgage lenders, hotels that you have stayed at, etc. The list is probably long.
So today, I received a letter from an investment firm through whom I purchased stock securities in the late 1980’s and early nineties. In February of this year one of their boxes of backup tapes of data was evidently missing. The missing tapes contained… guess what? … “certain personal information, such as your name, address, Social Security number and/or shareholder account information.”
Hmmm.
So, they are offering twelve months of “free credit monitoring.” Great… like then what? In thirteen months I will still be anxious because, frankly, though I do not lose sleep over it, I remain internally unsettled by the previous potential dispersal of my personal information four years ago.
From everything I have read, identity theft is an enormous nightmare to experience. Personally, I do not want to go through it any more than I want to catch the latest staph infection that has no remedy.
It’s all part of the game of progress, and I don’t really know the alternatives. Cash and carry has limitations that put a crimp on my style. I dislike shopping, and all those goods that get delivered to my door with a handful of mouseclicks is so pleasing. But… then again… I sure don’t like the way this letter from Shareholder Services is making me feel.
How does it make you feel? Am I overreacting to imaginary boogeymen, or are these really scary realities?
