Ethics and Society
How to Safeguard Personal Information
1.Fill in only necessary information on rebate, warranty, and registration forms.
2.Do not preprint your telephone number or Social Security number on personal checks.
3.Have an unlisted or unpublished telephone number.
4.If Caller ID is available in your area, find out how to block your number from displaying on the receiver’s system
5.Do not write your telephone number on charge or credit receipts.
6.Ask merchants not to write credit card numbers, telephone numbers,
Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers on the back of your personal checks.
7.Purchase goods with cash, rather than credit or checks.
8.Avoid shopping club and buyer cards.
9.If merchants ask personal question, find out why they want to know before releasing the information.
10.Inform merchants that you do not want them to distribute your personal information.
11.Request, in writing, to be removed from mailing lists.
12.Obtain your credit report once a year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax Experian, and TransUnion) and correct any errors.
13.Request a free copy of your medical records once a year from the Medical Information Bureau.
14.Limit the amount of information you provide to Web sites. Fill the only required information.
15.Install a cookie manager to filter cookies.
16.Clear your history file when you are finished browsing.
17.Set up a free-email account. Use this e-mail address for merchant forms.
18.Turn off file and printer sharing on your Internet connection.
19.Install a personal firewall.
20.Sign up for e-mail filtering through your Internet access provider or use
an anti-spam program such as Brightmail.
21.Do not reply to spam for any reason.
22.Surf the Web anonymously with a program such as Freedom WebSecure or through an anonymous Web site such as Anonymizer.com.