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Have You Invaded Your Child's Privacy By Giving Information Online?Feb 09 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line By placing your child's name or photo online or through a mail order form, you may be jeopardizing their future privacy.
Today on my answering machine I received a message that completely blew my mind and affirmed to me that the issue of child identity protection and privacy has come to a crisis of gigantic proportion. Because of that, I want to tell you a story that is unfortunately true in hopes that it will help you make a dramatic decision to take a stand in protecting your children from identity theft or something worse. Three and a half years ago, I was living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in a rent house. I had received a piece of mail from a rather well known business saying that if I would send in a certain amount of box tops or labels with a form that I would receive a toy for my child. Well, I used quite a lot of that one product and I had many forms. So, I used my address as well as others (my parents and so forth) in order to receive more than one offer. However, I had more labels so I decided to do one more to get the free item, putting my dog's name on the form (Honesty) and mailing it in. Sure enough, Honesty got her free "gift" about four to six weeks later. Then the other things came. I was getting information sent in her name to my home address for numerous other things. I had put the same birthdate for Honesty as my youngest son so they would both get junk mail at the same time. Since then, I have moved two more times and Honesty was put to sleep after a long illness in March 1998. I now live in a completely different state and do not have my phone number listed with my full name anymore because I had been harrassed by some individuals online in the past. So imagine my surprise that after two months of living here in Georgia that I again started to get junk mail in the name of my dead dog here sent to my address! Most people would think, well throw that away, and I have done that, but there was something strange that happened earlier this week that gave me the creeps and make me rethink the entire issue of giving information to anyone now, be it on a form or online. Earlier this week, I received a phone call from a toll free number stating that my youngest son was on a list for "something" and that I had to call this number to receive the information for support and that they would only call once. I could not understand the phone number they gave me but only was able to get the first part of it clearly. So, I figured well, that's that and didn't think about it anymore. Well today, I received ANOTHER phone call and this was addressed to the parents of HONESTY SWEET, my dead dog! Again it was the same message and the same phone number. Now I am wondering WHO these persons are and what do they want with not only my dead dog, but more importantly my youngest son!?! How did they track us down across the USA without any phone number link? My previous phone number in Louisiana was disconnected without a forwarding number. I don't have a physical address that is even in an atlas! How did these people find where we lived and especially my phone number? All of this has really given me the creeps as you can imagine. Monday, I will be calling the Secretary of State's office here in Georgia to see what I can do about this and give them the information and the phone number. However, I am wondering now how much of my life and the lives of my children I have now betrayed by answering surveys and filling out forms for free things online or in the real mail. Have I now allowed my children to have no privacy at all but to become part of the telemarketing situation forever now because I put their name on a form to get a free gift? Or have I now put them in jeopardy of being hounded by a stalker or worse by being so open with their names and ages? When I see the pictures of the children here on the web site now on the profiles of their parents I truly am afraid for them. I wonder how many of them will eventually over time encounter similar situations as I have experienced today. If you have somehow compromised your child's privacy even with something as innocent as getting a free gift for them through a link online, I highly recommend that you think again about this for the future. I now wonder what else may come of this situation where strangers know my child's name, my phone number, and enough about them to make me wonder who they truly are and what their real intent is.  |
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