Personally I don't think "outsiders" are "copping" information from this Forum, but I may be naive.
There are so many places for people to get info about you these days. In this day and age of computers, public records are everywhere. A lot of the information is free; the remainder of it can be purchased. Just owning a credit card puts you on an entire list of third party mailings. And as far as age goes, it's part of your credit history.
You're being astute, again, Jan.
As a guy who grew up in the technological Dark Ages - without computers, cell phones, etc, I've adapted fairly well to most of the new technology. However, since 1997 when I bought my first computer and went on the internet I realized that, as the years went by and technology developed, 'personal' information was no longer going to be 'private' for long - and it wasn't. I just assume a lot of information about me is available to those willing to seek it out and there isn't a lot I can do about that. Of course I take precautions, as we all do, but at some point, you just have to accept the inevitable. That is why, along with time constraints, I don't sign up for 'social networking' sites, i.e.
Facebook and I avoid signing up for newsletters and such. To be candid, I'm not seeking a job or a date so I don't need to use those kinds of sites, anyway. Like others, I have various e-mail 'boxes' for different purposes, none of them nefarious, I assure you. Of course, I never send out e-mail that I would be embarrassed by if it were to become public and I avoid giving my 'personal' information whenever possible. If I'm signing up to get a coupon (as my wife does) you don't need my birth date, my home phone number and my spouses name and occupation. If you want all that for some minor 'benefit', I'll pass.
So, as you correctly noted, Jan, there is little privacy any more - but we do what we can. Frankly, I'm not overly concerned about it, although, as our
Brenda (
'Brendalu') learned, identity theft can be a real hassle to repair.
Jim
