The Hundredth Window : Protecting Your Privacy and Security in the Age of the Internet

As Web technology endangers aspects of our privacy, how can we best maintain computer security? Jennings and Fena provide a comprehensive guide to privacy and security in the fast-changing Internet age, identifying winning and losing strategies for users and businesses.

Chapter One: Invasion of the Data Snatchers
I fear the loss of my obscurity. Genuineness grows best in the dark.
-- Aldous Huxley
A generation or two ago, the data of daily life, to the extent that it was recorded at all, was "entered" on file cards and bond paper, stored in snap-ring binders and file cabinets, and kept under lock and key. Copying information required the use of carbon paper -- and considerable human effort. A real-time commercial transaction meant pulling cash from your wallet and collecting the change. The only identifying number the typical American had was a social security number -- a nine-digit code that was generally kept in strictest confidence, in accordance with the strong privacy guarantees of the initial social security program. Even as late as the 1960s, before computers were networked, the only individual transactions recorded on a daily basis were ones that involved financial credit, taxes, or governmental benefits.
Today, social security numbers are used everywhere, from schools to stock brokerages, to track you through life. Credit cards leave a wide trail of purchase records. Copying information is as easy as point and click, cut and paste. The data of daily life -- your daily life -- is collected at supermarkets, at the workplace, over phone networks, at the drugstore, and at every website you visit. And these are just the hot spots.
List marketers, credit profilers, information brokers, and other legal vendors make a business out of collecting and trading electronic data profiles of you. They participate actively in what amounts to a thriving online flea market for PII. It is your data -- personal facts about you -- that are being bought and sold. That's the best-case scenario. The worst case is that the information in your personal data profiles is not really about you, but accidentally about someone else. If that person has a criminal past, a poor credit history or a habit of posting hate messages on the Web, you are in for trouble.
There is so much electronic information collection going on in our lives that we have become quite accustomed -- even numb -- to it all. But recall your grandparents' lives for a moment, lives lived without direct mail, e-mail, or credit cards; lives lived in an era when personal behavior was at most a matter of local gossip, not a widely accessible public record. And then join us as we imagine a typical day in your thoroughly modern life.
7:00 a.m. Wake up, turn up heat, take shower, dry hair, make and drink coffee, use up remaining milk in refrigerator.
You can still wake up at home with some expectation of privacy. You know that your shower, at least, is private. Chances are no one is monitoring the simple tasks you perform in order to get ready for the day.
7:47 a.m. Log onto the Internet to check news and stock portfolio; check e-mail on personal account.
Now you have plunged into the data zone, where every move you make will be captured in a computerized system. Your identity travels the Net with you, leaving a solid, easily traceable trail. Every click of your mouse is being recorded somewhere far, far from your hard drive, and every transaction you complete will be stored and analyzed.
8:31 a.m. Turn down heat, open/close garage door, depart house.
The local utility may be specifically monitoring your heat consumption in order to run its systems more efficiently and to anticipate high-load periods. If you use an electronic garage door system, anyone with appropriate equipment can monitor its use -- from a distance -- to determine when you leave home, though this requires hard-core electronic surveillance. As you drive off from your house, your car's trip computer records the start of today's journey.
9:10 a.m. Drive into the city, use E-ZPass automatic toll payment to make commute faster.
In New York as well as many other major metropolitan areas, toll collection has become automated through systems such as E-ZPass. However, as this system speeds you through the toll booth, your car is being identified and information about your whereabouts is being collected and stored. New York City police detectives have successfully subpoenaed this information and used it as evidence in court. (Cars are moving billboards containing a critical piece of PII -- your license plate number.)
9:12 a.m. Answer cell phone in car regarding a hot new business deal.
At first the cell phone cuts out, of course, as you cross the bridge. But then you reconnect, perhaps aware that cell phone transmissions and receptions are recorded for billing purposes, but probably not caring in the least. But then you realize that cell phone calls can be intercepted. While that possibility is somewhat remote, you shudder at the thought that a business reporter might be lurking in the sea of traffic alongside you, ready to eavesdrop on your call. The thought passes, and you hit the speed dial to return the call.
9:30 a.m. Have breakfast meeting with prospective customer; pick up the bill with a credit card.
The credit card companies -- the banks as well as the payment processors -- are some of the biggest collectors of personal data about you. Plastic is often handier than cash, and sometimes it is essential, but it is never anonymous. Credit card data warehouse operators are expert at mining information about what you buy to better understand your behavior as a consumer. This can result in directing marketing efforts that target your likes and dislikes -- but this information is not in any way regulated, and nothing precludes it from being sold to whoever wants to buy it. The biggest privacy leak in most people's lives can be found in their wallets, where they keep their credit cards.
10:46 a.m. Go into office building, use electronic badge to enter parking area, building, restroom, and work area.
Electronic badges, like E-ZPass and cell phones, can locate you in a particular place at a particular time. So can the video cameras in the parking lot, elevator, and building lobby, all of which are now online in a closed-circuit network, with feeds to both a security control room and the executive suites. Ostensibly, this data is owned and held in confidence by your employer for security purposes only. But this data can be used for other purposes as well, such as in job reviews and employee disputes. Incidentally, alarm systems that require you to punch in a specific personal identification number, or PIN, to gain entrance also store a record of your coming and going.
11:10 a.m. Check/send e-mail from work account; log onto Internet to research the competition and gain access to analyst reports.
Not only are Internet access providers collecting information about your every online click, your employer may also be doing the same -- and legally it is within his or her rights to do so if you are using your system at work. So beware! (And please stay off those porno sites when you're at work -- it could be embarrassing when the boys in the server room check your log sheets.) Also, e-mail records have been used extensively in legal actions -- and have even bitten the grand titan of software, Bill Gates -- so understand that what you dash off in an electronic note lingers on, perhaps forever.
1:38 p.m. Go to Amazon.com to buy a book, and recommend it to a client's management team.
Amazon.com has established itself as the premier online vendor of books, in part by offering personalized service. This is accomplished by collecting information about your likes and dislikes regarding particular titles and comparing these with the likes and dislikes of the countless others who frequent their site. (The process is known as "collaborative filtering" and involves a set of cutting-edge technologies that are being used increasingly in e-commerce.) The Amazon folks do post a privacy policy on their site and try for the most part to behave like a responsible, privacy-sensitive merchant, but nonetheless, the company's databases contain a great deal of personal information about the subject matter that most interests you and stimulates you. This information in some ways is even more sensitive than the more generic payment data that a credit card company records -- and in at least one controversial program, Amazon did use this information to disclose publicly what books were most popular among employees of certain well-known companies.
2:00 p.m. Participate in business alliance conference call using a teleconference service bridge.
Many of the phone companies that provide this type of teleconferencing service require you to provide your identity to access the call -- for security reasons. It is worth noting that this information is logged into these companies' database systems and can be accessed if required by the purchaser of the service or by law enforcement officials.
4:10 p.m. Use your always-on Internet access at work to visit an online wedding registry, in order to make it easy for friends and family to buy gifts online for the big wedding.
Getting married soon? No problem -- there are many websites ready to come to your rescue and help you prepare all the details. Many such sites require that you enter virtually your whole life story before you can be listed in their nuptial registry. Moreover, when people purchase gifts for you via the registry, the site operators get a very accurate profile of your friends and family as well. Whenever entering detailed personal information via the Internet, regardless of how seemingly innocuous the purpose, be sure to read the site's privacy policy to understand how the information you are providing is to be used. The way to do this is to search for a link (usually on the home page) that says "privacy policy." Read this policy! If it claims that the site operators can, essentially, do whatever they please with your data, you might be well advised to look for an alternative. (Here's the kind of language in a privacy policy to avoid: "In an effort to bring you more exciting offers from our partners, we reserve the right, from time to time, to share information about you with these partners....")
6:15 p.m. Log onto favorite travel site to purchase tickets and select seat for upcoming business trip.
The proliferation of new travel services on the Internet is a direct result of the low cost of entry into this field and the relatively low cost to operate and maintain such a site, compared to a bricks-and-mortar travel agency. In this highly competitive arena, the ability of travel retailers to gather and analyze information about your travel patterns is an important competitive asset. This information is often resold to carriers within the travel industry but can also be used to gauge your relative wealth and amount of leisure time. This kind of information is gold to the direct marketing industry -- and online travel agencies can and do trade this gold in order to expand their margins. Traveler, beware.
7:30 p.m. Review, edit, and put final touches on upcoming speech; e-mail presentation to conference organizers for reproduction.
Companies that run conferences generally keep copies of your presentation for their files and distribute them to conference attendees as well. Some conferences actually publish presentations on their website. This may not be a problem, but it is helpful to remember that your ultimate audience could include competitors or investors.
8:17 p.m. Exit building, using badge to exit prepaid underground parking.
It's the end of another high-voltage day. Somewhere, someone knows what time you left the building. In fact, he or she may even have noticed how tired you looked as you passed the networked security camera.
8:35 p.m. Stop in at grocery store to pick up milk and Häagen-Dazs ice cream; use discount card and make a quick cash purchase.
Many people don't realize that a supermarket discount card is more than just a convenient substitute for coupons. The computerized scanning systems linked to your personal discount card capture information that your grocery can use to maintain a profile of you and your family -- one that includes all your eating and drinking habits. This information is valuable to others as well, such as insurers, employers, and direct marketers. Do you really want total strangers to know about that fondness of yours for pinot noir?
9:10 p.m. Collapse in easy chair; order dinner from Waiters online.
You should not be surprised when your friendly gourmet delivery service addresses you by name when they pick up the phone, anticipates your usual order, and offers to bill it to your Visa card (which they have on file). The incredible convenience of instant, customized service comes to you courtesy of the caller ID feature in the phone system, which in turn is hooked up directly to Waiters-on-Wheels's customer file and credit card billing system. They know your dinner routine better than you do. Tonight, when the waiter arrives, he asks, "Would you like us to call your cell phone at the usual time while you're on your way home, just to make it a little easier?" Over the seared ahi and saffron rice, prepared just the way you like it, you begin to wonder if perhaps these waiters know you a bit too well.
10:43 p.m. Log onto an Internet health site to research father's illness; request information.
Although you know the information you are requesting is for your father, the site owners don't. The pharmaceutical company that sponsors the site receives your information and sends the materials you requested to your postal address. What you don't realize is that you are now entered in their records as a person who possibly has a troublesome illness and, therefore, may be a potential customer. If the pharmaceutical company also resells its database to insurance companies, they and other data brokers may miss the nuance inherent in the phrase "may have this illness." They might not even have any idea of how the information in the database was compiled. Two months later, though you are a healthy thirty-seven-year-old woman, you receive a free sample of an herbal supplement that is reputed to help treat prostate cancer.
11:34 p.m. Call your phone message service to arrange a 7:00 a.m. wake-up call; turn in for the night.
Your first data log of the day ahead has already been recorded.

The modern information landscape has indeed changed greatly from that of our grandparents. Try as we might, we can no longer avoid the scrutiny of the data collectors, even if we avoid using that most obvious of data-entry tools, the computer keyboard. Computers and sensors are now embedded in the most mundane environments, and data is frequently collected about us without our volunteering it. To the many skills required to successfully make your way on life's journey, add one more: personal privacy protection.
Every day, millions of everyday people -- the amateurs, let's call them -- willingly provide personally identifiable information about themselves to the data collection pros. This information may include a name, a phone number, an address (home, business, or e-mail), and any number of other unique identifiers (social security number, credit card number, driver's license number, even the image of a face, retina, or set of fingerprints) -- but it must have at least one such identifying element to be useful. To be true PII, the information must always contain a hook -- a way to snag and reel in the unique identity of an individual human being.
PII hooks can be found in all sorts of information files. Imagine a massive computer directory...