How to Remain anonymous from would-be ID theives and Snoops:

#1 - never put your phones (cell or otherwise) in your name, always use an alias. Never associate that alias with anything else.

#2 - never associate your name with your real physical address. At the very least, get a P.O. Box. Better yet, get a private mail box like those provided by Mailboxes, Etc. Both will keep your physical address private, but a private mail box will also allow you to receive UPS shipments.

# 3- Open a new account in the name of an alias. One of the cardinal rules of maximum privacy is never associate your real name with your real address. You can use your real name and your public (nonresidential) address. Or you can use your alias with your real address. But never use both together.


Hope that helps.

Sorry to have to break the news to you Cary, but the major credit bureaus WILL and DO sell information. Under current law, consumers bear most of the responsibility for keeping personal information private....

It is not as *easy* to obtain access to personal information since the passing of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999; however it is done by legal means and regularly on a daily basis by 1000's of individuals. It is a matter of common practice.

Law firms use these services everyday to obtain information most people think is not accessable - but it is...and totally legal.

Not only that but one of the nation's largest banks only 3 years ago sold their customers personal account information to a telemarketing company for over 4 million $$ plus further commission on whatever sales were generated from that database!

The information sold consisted of partly:

name
address
telephone numbers
gender
marital status
home ownership status
occupation
checking account numbers
credit card numbers
Social Security number
birth date
account open date, average account balance
account frequency usage information
credit limit
credit insurance status
year to date finance charges
automated transactions authorized
number of credit cards and type
cash advance amounts
behavior score
bankruptcy score
date of last payments
amount of last payment
date of last statement
statement balance

It's the truth. It's a fact.

50 years ago when the Federal government started issuing Social Security cards some people worried the Social Security number would evolve into a national identification system.

Well, they were correct. These days, your SSN is attached to practically everything from credit cards to your online shopping and it's becoming nearly impossible to function in society without one. SSN/name cross-references all kinds of personal data from financial records to medical histories.

What can you do about it? You can go to extreme measures (most would not because you can barely function in society if you do) such as:


*At the very least, get a P.O. Box. Better yet, get a private mail box like those provided by Mailboxes, Etc. Both will keep your physical address private, but a private mail box will also allow you to receive UPS shipments. DO not EVER use your physical address on ANYTHING.

*By using a private mail box, identity thieves will not be able to steal your mail and then steal your identity. In addition, stalkers, private investigators, and others will not be able to do a "reverse lookup" and find your real residential address.


*Don't use Banks. Use cash for everything. (see what I mean? Pretty non-functional)


*If you do use a *real* phone number (like who doesn't? cell or landline) --list the phone in the name of an alias, like the name of your dog. (yes, really)

One of the cardinal rules of maximum privacy is to never associate your real name with your real address. You can use your real name and your public (nonresidential) address. Or you can use your alias with your real address (e.g., to have pizza delivered to your home). But never ever use both together.

If you do, if someone wants to, they will be able to pick up the trail and find you, it isn't very hard to do. Since you have to give the phone company your real address, then you can't give them your real name.

The problem is that they will typically want your Social Security number in order to check your credit history. This is a legitimate request, but it won't help you if you don't want to give them your real name. These two pieces of information must be related. You can generally only get around this by offering to prepay your bill.

I hope this info is of some benefit to you all.


Melanie Kozik
http://www.unlisted-etcetera.com

"We are ONE Powerful Information Location Machine!"