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June 2004 Newsletter:
Online Privacy

An excerpt from Stay Safe In Cyberspace: Cybercrime Awareness, Prevention & Safety for American Families Second Edition

"Privacy is a subject that generates as many viewpoints as there are internet users. Whether or not you want to allow any person the option of reading any or all of your mail or allow a store to know your personal preferences for the clothes you wear, the music you listen to, or the books you read is each adult internet user's personal decision. The basics do not change. Each internet user has control over how much information is allowed to be available online to  others about them. The exceptions are when personal information is owned by someone else such as vehicle, medical, home ownership records, or any public information. . .

Sending an email is different than mailing a letter at the post office. Before you mail the letter at the post office, you write the letter, put it in an envelope, and seal it. Your letter will be opened only by the person you intend to receive it. Of course there are exceptions but the option to read your letter is rarely given to anyone who happens to see the envelope. When you send an email, it can be intercepted and read anywhere between your emailbox and the destination if the person tampering with your email knows what they are doing. It is a federal crime under the Electronic Communications Protection Act (ECPA) to intercept, divert, alter, or view an email as it is moving from the sender to the receiver. After you receive your email in your inbox, the ECPA no longer applies. You now have your mail in your possession from the post office (in this case, your email server).

But, the ECPA does give your internet service provider permission to view your email that you have not yet picked up from the post office and mail that you have recently sent. . . However, the ECPA does not give your internet service provider permission or the right to allow anyone else to view, change, or remove your email from their storage area. . .

What this really means is that you should think of your email letters as postcards instead of postal letters. How much privacy do you want with your correspondence?

If you decide you want some degree of privacy, (consider encryption). . . Encryption is a system where your email message is turned into nonsense then sent to the receiver who has the correct "key" to turn the nonsense back into your readable email message. . .

Whether online privacy is necessary or wanted is a decision each internet user makes for themselves. In the United States, lawmakers and civil rights groups are trying to develop policies to balance the privacy rights of companies, governments, institutions, employees, and consumers. . .

When you shop online, remember to look for secure payment pages. You can recognize them by:

1.  https://  instead of http:// ;

2.  an insignia or logo from an online secure payment service; or,

3.  the information you type looks something like "xxxxxx" instead of the keyboard characters you actually type.

An area of internet privacy that most people do not consider is online phone books. Some internet users enjoy the convenience of their online listing because it allows their family and friends to find them in case their information is lost or misplaced. If you do not want your address or phone number listed on the internet, you do have the option to remove your information. . . If you want your personal information removed from these lists, you need to visit each online directory and follow each website's procedures for removal of your information. These online listing (services) can only remove, with your permission, your listing from their online directory. It will not remove your listing from paper phone books. . .

The final thing to remember about your online privacy is that each internet user does have control over how much information is allowed to be available online to other internet users about themselves" (with the exception of public information mentioned above).

Remember that your computer and the internet are tools to be used to accomplish tasks. The tasks can be talking with family or friends, shopping, doing business, or doing homework. Use them properly and safely. Refer to the Safety Guide for a quick review. Keeping yourself and your family safe online and in the everyday world helps keep your neighborhood, state and country safe.