The more laws that are invoked, the greater the humor I find
in them. Take privacy as an example. We all receive small pamphlets
from most companies we do business with explaining in 10 pages
or less of tiny print how they protect our privacy. The pamphlets
tell us how they distribute our private information by providing
a list of all those who receive it from them.
A list of actions you can take to stop card issuers from sharing
your information is included in the pamphlet. One action is
to cancel your account.
I
spent an hour attempting to cancel my account with a major
bank who had issued a Visa card in my name and a second
card in my wife’s name. The cards were not requested;
they arrived after the bank decided to cancel the first cards
we had been using for some time.
Along with our new cards, we received a pamphlet, just short
of equaling a small book. It explained how they had checked
into our privacy without notifying us until after they had
collected our private information. We no longer wished to have
a card with the company for the following reason. We had agreed
to auto pay initially on the account. After they canceled our
original card and re-issued the new one, we confirmed the auto
pay was not in place before sending our check for payment.
When our statement arrived from our bank we make auto pays
from, an auto pay withdrawal had been sent to the card company.
They
received duplicate payment and we had to wait another month
to receive credit for their “mistake?”
During
the hour I spent on the phone, much of it attempting to reach
a person who would talk to me, I was asked
for my “private” information
numerous times. I did not wish to share with a machine,
or someone no smarter than the machine, my information.
I
am not making this up; I spoke to a tech, a tech supervisor,
a financial adviser and a supervisor
in that department.
I had to provide my “private” information to each
of them in order to move on. A confirmation number was finally
obtained to cancel my account but all of them still have my “private” information.
How
about dealing with a hospital. Even if it’s
an emergency, you must provide the following.
Your home phone,
your work
phone, your cell phone, your Social Security
number, you drivers license number, your date of birth
and a lot more.
If the emergency
is serious enough, they may even receive your
date of death.
After
collecting pages of private information, you are asked to
sign acknowledgement of a “privacy” announcement.
It
states you have read the entire statement and agree to its
descriptions of how they will
protect
your information.
You
are finally given a plastic band that displays
much of your
information for all to see — including
the cleaning personnel.
All
of the “private” information
obtained is quickly transferred to a computer
file that
can be accessed
by most
people in the entire medical services field.
Who would doubt that the information we
all turn over
cannot
be hacked?
As
I see it, “privacy” is a thing of the past,
given up to the smart phones that see, record and transfer
everything. It’s almost as elusive
as trying to get a human person on a
phone.
My
experience on the phone this morning at 8 o’clock
is a good example. When I picked it up I heard, “May
I speak to Fred?” I replied, “I am Fred.” The
line was silent for seconds. Then the caller told me they were
calling on behalf of the cancer society and would I like to
contribute. I replied no and attempted to explain why. After
another few silent seconds, (I was now aware the call was from
a machine) I was told an envelope would be sent to me. I could
place at least $20 in the pre-addressed envelope and return
it. How did they get my phone number and address with all that “privacy” out
there?
I
am not one to deny those in need, but this sure sounded like
a scam.
How about
that — an
automated scam!