Apple Archive

They Can Take Your Personal Information, but They Can't Take You

- 2004.05.28

I've never used the AutoFill Forms option in Internet Explorer, and I don't plan to.

Why not? What happens if I click "AutoFill Form" and give a site a little bit more information than I'd like them to have? Companies love getting email addresses, snail mail addresses, and they especially love telephone numbers.

I keep a separate email address just for those sites that require you to receive a confirmation email, follow a link, and type in a code. I'm not going to give them my personal email address!

However, I recently read the latest Mark Morford column, Amazon.com Does Not Know Me, where he states that even though companies have a wealth of information about him, "They cannot touch me. They cannot actually reach me in any significant manner, ever...."

That's completely true. The big, bad companies that send out spam encouraging you to buy prescription medication online or clear all of your debts with just a few clicks aren't going to burst through your front door and demand that you give them your wallet because you decided you'd rather handle your finances yourself. They won't put a bomb in your mailbox because you didn't buy their discount DVDs, and they won't poison your breakfast cereal because you didn't sign up with them to "lose inches in days!"

What Morford is saying is that while people can steal your credit card numbers and social security numbers over the Internet, they can't steal your personality. He says, "We think if we offer up too much personal data they will somehow use it against us, diminish us...."

He also talks about the "ideal standpoint" from which to look at these matters - and argues that a positive outlook might actually be the way to go instead of getting paranoid about people stealing your credit card numbers, phone numbers, and other such things.

That said, my mom still won't purchase anything online unless it's from a reputable company (she's bought some things from Apple, for example). The problem is, even if you do buy from a reputable company, there are even things that could go wrong. You're still taking a bit of a chance.

However, if you think about it, you're taking just as much of a chance (if not more) at a restaurant. They could swipe your credit card through their little machine to their heart's content - and would you know it? Not until you got the credit card bill, which might not be for another month. Or how about stores? "Oops, it didn't go through, let me see the card again please."

Morford's column makes a really good point: You can't live in fear of what people could be doing to hurt you behind your back.

That said, I still won't be using AutoFill, nor will I be giving out my personal email address to just anyone.

Join us on Facebook!

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac IIfx, introduced 1990.03.19. This 'wicked fast' 40 MHz Mac trumped the 33 MHz DOS world.
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Apple Archive articles copyright ©2000-07 by Adam Robert Guha. Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2012 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler 11 is now in the Mac App Store!! -- Special Introductory Price of $59.95!! -- To Buy From The Mac App Store Click Here Now!! Or buy direct from Strider Software.

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker and Mac Casino applications in minutes.

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The Apple Store
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
GainSaver
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay