What the hell ?!?!
10 Investigates’ experiment aids Ohio BMV with investigating potential misuse of driver data
https://www.10tv.com/mobile/article/...8-01dd4b4bcb40Since 2010, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has made more than $250 million selling drivers’ personal information to third parties.
* Attended the 1990 and 2010 Reds Division clinchers *
Go 76ers, Go Steelers and Go Bucks
Ohio has always been very lax with personal data, and is why I never got an Ohio driver's license despite living here for almost 30 years. It's bad enough that they put your actual birthday on your license plate, but it wasn't long ago that they still put your SS number on your license.Originally Posted by goreds2
My gf had a scary incident a few years ago before I knew her because of that. She would go to Starbucks in the morning and get one of those fancy drinks, and of course they would call out your name. Some creepy guy saw this and then noticed which car she drove in with. So now, he had her first name and birth date, and it took little effort to just start googling, and before you know it he was standing at her door.
I always told my kids that no business needs your name, phone number, address, or anything else in order to buy a sandwich, coffee, or anything else. You've got to guard your privacy.
goreds2 (02-28-2022),Roy Tucker (03-10-2022),WrongVerb (03-01-2022)
I don't even like doing loyalty cards, because they require a phone and maybe an address. I always put a dummy phone number if it's required and I can get away with it, though.
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. -- Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot)
goreds2 (03-01-2022)
I have an email specifically for that. I don't like giving out that info, having worked in retail I understand that part of the job is to get people to sign up for those useless promotions.
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change, the realist adjusts the sails.
William Arthur Ward
Everybody sells your data.
It's wrong, and I wouldn't just hand it over for free.
But avoiding having your data sold to 3rd parties is impossible unless you're 100% off the grid, never order anything online, and pay with only cash. Even the banks sell your data, so you better have a big mattress to keep all that cash under too.
"Lemonade requires a significant amount of sugar. Otherwise, you've just made lemon juice."
goreds2 (03-02-2022)
Sure, but you don't have to make it easy. Why do people give their name, address, and telephone number to starbucks so they can buy a coffee? I've had the same cell number for 23 years and never get robo calls, because I simply don't give it out.
I mean, Kroger makes a big deal about technology advancements and say they will protect your data, but if that's the case, why can I swipe a speedway card and get their discount? I'll tell you- I know a couple of software engineers at Kroger, and they are about as sharp as a plastic butterknife.
Wait, for real? I can cross the streams on different membership cards?
I hate signing up for those things, and I also have some standard fake info I can use to fill in the blanks -- also, for Kroger, I'm still using the Plus Card that my college housemate signed up for 20 years ago -- but if I can cut it down to one card I can swipe anywhere, I wanty!!!
goreds2 (03-03-2022)
The last time I tried, it worked. You don't get the points of course, but you get the discounts. Just grab a card from Speedway and try it out.
And, this is news, why?
THEY ALL DO IT AND HAVE FOR DECADES!!!!!!
In 1989 I moved to a new State and intentionally mispelled my last name in a way that it never gets mispelled to the local electric company just to see if they were selling the names to anyone, and lo-and-behold, in less than 60 days, I got junk mail in the misspelled name. I wasn't surprised.
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
goreds2 (03-03-2022)
I do the best I can to get myself off the grid. I need to switch to LINUX, but haven't done it, yet. I've never used a google account. I canceled FB, got rid of my Amazon account and Netflix. I clear my registry every time I turn my computer on and before I turn it off and and I restart my computer every time I go somewhere that has anything to do with my personal data (yahoo email, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, Vanguard, Trailblazer/ticketmaster account, any of my banks). I won't go online with Xfinity or T-Mobile. I pay by check with many things. I haven't used paypal for years and will never use them. I don't do cryptocurrency (thought it would be handy for international traveling via ATM's and a cryptocard) after investigating it thoroughly and testing their money transfers and data storage.
But, the big one is, I need to get to LINUX and away from Microsoft. I use Duck-Duck-Go and google incognito, but it's not much better, though it is better as a temporary help until I convert to LINUX. I use a big-screen TV that connects to my Wi-FI, but it's old enough that it doesn't have any built-in software that has upward data retrieval possible. My phone bill, btw, is $20/mo. with unlimited talk and limited text, and there are not local or federal taxes or fees with this plan, and it can take unbelievable photos.
I try to avoid money transactions on the Internet, though it's unavoidable with market trades and large cash transactions. I have my AX on auto-payment in full so I don't have to check balances and have the monthly details mailed to me. I use a debit card with transactions and get a receipt. I don't gamble online (but couldn't help it taking straight up the Bengals' playoff games and some Blazer opportunities that showed themselves at the same time last month (turned $600 into $8300 and cashed it all out, but the process and time and fees and security issues involved made me close all the accounts involved...coinbase, bovada, bitcoin).
It takes a lot of effort, but the intrusion of all of these companies and governments piss me off to no end. At what point did it happen when, the people, who are the average person in the U.S. right now, believed that it was OK to conduct business this way, to hold hostage people's personal information for their own benefit, to steal from people their personal information for their own benefit, under the "business as usual" idea. I can tell you exactly when it happened. In the '80's the morals shifted from where someone's personal rights were respected to where it became OK to not respect a person's personal information and even their thoughts. You can't turn on a single channel or open a single news source without the headlines, not just inferring, but telling you how you are supposed to think, and that your personal information and thoughts do not belong to you.
The worst offenders in the U.S. are the governments, of course, the news sources, too, and in businesses, too. I had ETF's that held stock in Amazon, Verizon, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Apple, Xfinity, etc., and I purged myself of them and reinvested into companies that were less intrusive. It makes investing more difficult, because for the very reasons why these companies are evil are the reasons why they make more money than everyone else. I get my food from local farmers who grow their food sustainably. I get my seafood as a contributing coop member from a local fisherman, whose small company (you can actually see them on a Netflix program) fishes sustainably.
I moved from Oregon to Washington 18 months ago and for two short weeks I filed for Unemployment before landing a job. Well, the Oregon Unemployment department kept sending me monies even though I wasn't filing any claims. I tried to pay them back, but they wouldn't take it. 15 months later I get this random letter where they want their money back, but with a note that says, if it's hardship, a decision that only they can make, they won't ask for it back. Well, it's not a hardship, but it's a pain-in-the-ass, filing taxes on monies they shouldn't have sent me, and then paying it back, causing another decision about filing for that State. While I was dealing with this, I found out that they had sent me more money that I didn't notice and they haven't asked for, so I imagine that someday I'll get a letter about this. I couldn't get a hold of anyone to get them to stop sending me money, so I blocked them from depositing it into my account in the future. If I hadn't let them deposit my unemployment checks directly into my bank account, I wouldn't have had this problem as I could have sent back the checks.
People are just too incompetent and companies and governments are just too large for there to be any proper security out there for your personal and financial information. You're better off in the long run to be as far off the grid as possible. Sooner or later, it's going to bite you in the ass, more than likely several times, and the size of the bites are getting larger and larger, and it's just getting worse.
I won't file my taxes online. As a result, I didn't get my refund from the IRS until late August (with interest).
Having first received my Computer Programming degree in 1983 with specialties in COBOL, RPG I&II, Assembly and Easytrieve, along with mastering the Omegamon network software system, and having worked in the Computer Industry as a wholesale purchaser, systems builder, and wholesaler to governments, corporations and school systems until 2005, I guess there's just too much I know not to trust anyone with my information. It's not a get-off-my-lawn attitude, it's a I-know-what-goes-on-and-I-don't-like-it-and-won't-stand-for-it attitude. I did notice that Congress has finally taken notice, but only because some of their personal information got hacked at a federal level. Whatever it takes, the attitude about it has to change.
This "oh-there's-nothing-you-can-do-about-it" attitude is the same attitude that lets atocities take place over the history of mankind. It's also just pure laziness and a self-interest attitude of "it's not my problem".
Last edited by Kingspoint; 03-03-2022 at 06:25 AM.
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
Bob Sheed (03-03-2022),Roy Tucker (03-10-2022)
I've had Linux installed on my personal machines since 2016. I've worked on Linux systems for much of the past 20+ years. It's not that difficult to get started. I use Ubuntu, but there are plenty of flavors out there. If you're worried about getting back to Windows if things go sideways, do a dual install, where you can install both OSes and select one at start time.
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. -- Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot)
Kingspoint (03-06-2022),westofyou (03-03-2022)
Most of those things aren't practical. Like it or not, Windows is a requirement for many people. Most people don't have a skillset to clear their registry every day, not to mention that it would play havoc with a lot of software.
But people can reduce their risk substantially with little effort. When installing an app on the phone, don't give it permission to access contacts and the microphone if it doesn't need it- there is no reason my metronome needs my location. Turn the location off when you don't need it. Don't give some guy at Auto Zone your name, address and phone number just to buy a pair of windshield wipers. By doing things like that, I get very little spam and no robo calls, even though I do every financial transaction online (unless it's cash, locally).
I'm not naive- I know companies sell my data, but I can give them less to sell, or at least make it boring and unreliable.
goreds2 (03-03-2022),Kingspoint (03-06-2022)
Ubuntu is open source and free, running it takes some work.
If you do use gmail here's a trick to see who might sell your data
if you put a + and any character(s) after your name it will act as a unique email but still load inyour box.
example
myname@gmail.com
myname+retail@gmail.com
That said you're out there, if you want to be protected be vigilant in protecting your identity, but good luck trying to be off the grid like you could do before the internet
GAC (03-09-2022),Kingspoint (03-06-2022)
I can't get "off the grid". That ship sailed a long time ago. But, as a personal choice, and for my own moral conscience, I have to take a stand against the acceptance of the majority that it's OK to steal personal information under the guise of "business as normal". The "honest" people are the worst offenders because they work for companies and government institutions and school systems that believe it's OK.
Nobody needs an app. Nobody needs a smartphone. They can change jobs, do whatever, but take a different route. I'm giving up my Blazer season tickets after 23 years because they won't allow me to resell tickets online in their system without a smartphone (it was pulling teeth to get them to print me my tickets this season, and then they instituted a change where I can no longer reprint my tickets should I pull them from the online ticket exchange). The Blazers also gave all of my personal account information to Ticketmaster without my permission and forced us to log onto ticketmaster to access our personal Blazer accounts. Paul Allen bought Ticketmaster long ago.
I've been clicking "remind me later" for the last 12 years on my yahoo email accounts (which is a very unsafe company, and I cringe when I'm using it), and as a result haven't given them any new permissions since then. I would never download apps, if avoidable, when I did have a smartphone, and never gave permission to anything. Even when I would deny permissions, updates done without warning would always reset the permissions. I never download music, or listen to music on a computer or phone. I don't play online games or watch videos. These three areas are the biggest gateways for infiltration of the operating systems. Consequently, I don't get viruses and worms, but that doesn't stop the hundreds of programs that IO systems install. I love the one that records my typing speed, rhythm, spelling and habits to determine my personality and intelligence that Microsoft puts on every computer/phone. They don't try to hide most of these programs, giving them macro descriptions of exactly what they do.
But, last March, Samsung, Microsoft and Apple all increased the number of programs they were hiding their intrusive software in and increased their frequency of uploading and resetting permissions, along with denying the abilities to turn off permissions or remove the apps/codes, especially hiding them in "system apps" that are required for certain programs. Then in June, they tripled the number of programs/apps and the frequency of uploading and updating without permission these intrusive software "spies". I not only couldn't keep up with it, but I couldn't prevent it, as Apple (the hypocrytic "leader" in data security) took the final step by not allowing usage of the phone if any attempt was made to deny complete permission for the hidden spies attached to system software. Samsung surely would be next. I don't know if they did and I don't have to care anymore. Microsoft hasn't yet, but the problem with them is their volume is too large to stay ahead of them. I can't get rid of most of it in my registry, just the newer stuff that gets put in and the stuff I had removed before, while whenever I am forced to finally do a system update (because so many programs won't work with an older system), I spend hours and hours purging the "new" spyware. I thought I'd get help from BitDefender because who knows spyware better than an Eastern European company, right? Well, yes. They are great at it, but they also went deeper into registry and put more of their personal spyware in it than any other anti-virus software. They were accessing more of my personal data than anyone because of permissions I had to give them. It took hours to get rid of all of their stuff.
Obviously, if you own a business, you need to have it operating with a website, and people prefer to do business themselves via a smartphone, but you can keep any smartphone dedicated to that business app and not use it for anything else, and then have another non-smartphone for your clientbase, or have a personal computer with LINUX in your work vehicle to do business. I don't know of any decent ISP that doesn't use LINUX instead of Microsoft. In 1995, when the Federal order went into effect that all Federal Government agencies had to be online using Microsoft for continuity reasons, NASA told them to go screw themselves. You can fall in line or stand your ground. I choose to stand my ground. It's really hard not to take your path where you can self-sustain yourself with some property that you can harvest when needed, should you so desire, and just say bye-bye. But, like you, there's a family, etc., with obligations, so I have to settle for a personal separation that I have been working on expediantly since last May.
But, again, I won't feel like I've made a big dent until I switch to LINUX (and a split HD with two O/S's), while definitely employing the above-mentioned suggestion of Ubuntu, not having looked into that, yet, but the two sources for recommending it here are reliable and that works for me.
During the 25 years I spent in the computer industry, I took the stewardship of people's personal data seriously, more seriously than my own, never exposing it to unwanted eyes or access while guiding clients towards understanding the value in securing their information and placing a priority on it. It was always a struggle. The first two things any company does when cutting corners is they cut security and R&D, so any company that's in trouble, such as what has happened around the world because of the shutdowns of businesses and governments during COVID, has probably exposed themselves to security breeches. Governments and Educational institutions? What security?
The only way it will change is when enough of the people in law-making positions get personally damaged in the pocketbook in a bad way. But, even then, there's too much money to be made from the legal and illegal theft of personal data, so it will always get worse, thus, my desire to become as minimally visible as possible. My Spouse? C'est la vie! So, I guess we balance each other out with completely separate accounts. I do miss communicating with family via Facebook, but I've always been a letter writer and philatelist, and have a great collection of books I'm always adding to (and not purging enough, of course). I do not like the world of computers as it is being used today that I helped create. I did it the right way, but too many have abused it. If I was a gunsmith, I could be proud of the quality of my work, but in the hands of the wrong person(s), it can be abused, while in the hands of the right person(s), it is a necessary tool. There's just too many damn people in the world and the only way to deal with it is with large organizations. Computers and information sharing is necessary, but the personal rights violations are medievil in their scope.
Last edited by Kingspoint; 03-06-2022 at 04:00 AM.
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
goreds2 (03-06-2022)
The only "loyalty" card I have, and use, is the Kroger PLus Card. Love it. Especially on fuel purchases. So what data are they collecting on me that the government and eveybody else doesn't already know? It's a losing battle any more. lol
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
goreds2 (03-07-2022)
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