It’s hard to peg when this syndrome started, but probably sometime in the past 5-6 years would be a round, fairly accurate number. It’s come about because of the increasing number of electronic sites we visit to deposit data about ourselves.
To shop, bank, make vacation plans, rent cars, reserve a hotel room, order clothes, as a society we are going online more and more for these decisions. And because of that, we are ceding control of information, trusting others to protect it.
From credit card companies to retailers, travel agents, Amazon and other huge companies, we send out our addresses, phone numbers, email, and credit card information. Doing so, we place massive trust in entities we don’t really know.
For the most part, that trust is repaid. Though there are breaches and many people can list personal examples of having to close down accounts, recover their identities or change passwords, in the majority of cases, we are safe and things function the way they should.
Despite this knowledge, most of us operating in a first world economy, using current tools of technology, live with a steady state of low level paranoia that at any time, our personal information could get stolen and we could lose a lot of money to a criminal. I know I do.
In fact, low level paranoia makes sense. It’s healthy. It means you remain a skeptic, and the companies you are entrusting to serve you continue to earn it daily. They need to pay us back with protection, or we will take our business elsewhere.
That’s why the recent breach at Target is such a titanic headache for the company. They have now lost their customer’s trust. Earning it back is much harder.
Several years ago, a friend of mine had her checking account compromised. I saw her on an almost daily basis at work. Over the next several months, the topic of her trying to recover her identity was a repeated discussion topic. The headaches she encountered (closing the account; opening a new one; cancelling payments; calling businesses to explain what happened) were almost beyond belief. It gave me a headache just listening.
The issues today have multiplied as we further connect electronically, sending payments through the air rather than hand to hand. We lose touch literally and figuratively of how we are paying. We worry more. Low level paranoia increases every time you hear of someone you know who has had to cancel a credit card because it was suddenly racking up unknown charges.
Companies have evolved the past 5-6 years to fight this fraud. Think about it: These companies did not exist 10 years ago. Now, for a fee, you can have your identity managed and protect by a third party. If it wasn’t so ubiquitous in society, it would certainly seem weird and threatening.
“Yeah, I pay this company 14 bucks a month so that my life doesn’t get hacked. Seems like a small price for safety.”
Maybe it’s not, but if low level paranoia about identity theft didn’t exist, neither would those companies. They capitalize on our fears.
Sometimes you have to wonder what it would be like to go back to a barter and trade society or one that is fully cash-based. The only way to pay is to agree that what you are handing over meets the price of the seller and you place something tangible in his hands (cash or the item you are using to barter with).
With technology leapfrogging, we aren’t going back. Target is not going to be able to put the genie back in the bottle.
At the same time, common sense should prevail. Take reasonable measures to protect yourself: Choose complicated passwords and change them regularly. Don’t open emails that seek personal information. Make wise choices, and the paranoia eases.
To shop, bank, make vacation plans, rent cars, reserve a hotel room, order clothes, as a society we are going online more and more for these decisions. And because of that, we are ceding control of information, trusting others to protect it.
From credit card companies to retailers, travel agents, Amazon and other huge companies, we send out our addresses, phone numbers, email, and credit card information. Doing so, we place massive trust in entities we don’t really know.
For the most part, that trust is repaid. Though there are breaches and many people can list personal examples of having to close down accounts, recover their identities or change passwords, in the majority of cases, we are safe and things function the way they should.
Despite this knowledge, most of us operating in a first world economy, using current tools of technology, live with a steady state of low level paranoia that at any time, our personal information could get stolen and we could lose a lot of money to a criminal. I know I do.
In fact, low level paranoia makes sense. It’s healthy. It means you remain a skeptic, and the companies you are entrusting to serve you continue to earn it daily. They need to pay us back with protection, or we will take our business elsewhere.
That’s why the recent breach at Target is such a titanic headache for the company. They have now lost their customer’s trust. Earning it back is much harder.
Several years ago, a friend of mine had her checking account compromised. I saw her on an almost daily basis at work. Over the next several months, the topic of her trying to recover her identity was a repeated discussion topic. The headaches she encountered (closing the account; opening a new one; cancelling payments; calling businesses to explain what happened) were almost beyond belief. It gave me a headache just listening.
The issues today have multiplied as we further connect electronically, sending payments through the air rather than hand to hand. We lose touch literally and figuratively of how we are paying. We worry more. Low level paranoia increases every time you hear of someone you know who has had to cancel a credit card because it was suddenly racking up unknown charges.
Companies have evolved the past 5-6 years to fight this fraud. Think about it: These companies did not exist 10 years ago. Now, for a fee, you can have your identity managed and protect by a third party. If it wasn’t so ubiquitous in society, it would certainly seem weird and threatening.
“Yeah, I pay this company 14 bucks a month so that my life doesn’t get hacked. Seems like a small price for safety.”
Maybe it’s not, but if low level paranoia about identity theft didn’t exist, neither would those companies. They capitalize on our fears.
Sometimes you have to wonder what it would be like to go back to a barter and trade society or one that is fully cash-based. The only way to pay is to agree that what you are handing over meets the price of the seller and you place something tangible in his hands (cash or the item you are using to barter with).
With technology leapfrogging, we aren’t going back. Target is not going to be able to put the genie back in the bottle.
At the same time, common sense should prevail. Take reasonable measures to protect yourself: Choose complicated passwords and change them regularly. Don’t open emails that seek personal information. Make wise choices, and the paranoia eases.