A great article (linked at end) on CNET by
If you have read the famous “The Contract” published in the Internet Parent Guide, you will have a sense of how children can be tricked into giving away the family house through seemly innocent questions. In that instance the concern is chatting or emailing about things like “where daddy works,” “what’s grandma’s last name, no, the other grandma.” Or for teens “where did you buy that wonderful object,” “probably your dad’s bosses fault, what’s his name again…” and so on.
But this well written story on CNET takes the concern beyond gullible disclosures and focuses in on the greater privacy threats about which the Secure Surfing Organization is most gravely concerned. From profiling you across different social networking sites to “location aware” targeting, there is a major threat to personal freedom through the erosion of private space — i.e. privacy. Note that we do not share the pessimistic view the scientist who authored the article. The end of privacy will only occur if people do not actively take measures to protect themselves. We believe enough people will take such measures that while privacy may be over for the many, it can be preserved for the willing.
How 10 digits will end privacy as we know it | Security – CNET News
The population of the world stands at about 7 billion. So it takes only 10 digits to label each human being on the planet uniquely.
This simple arithmetic observation offers powerful insight into the limits of privacy. It dictates something we might call the 10-Digit Rule: just 10 digits or so of distinctive personal information are enough to identify you uniquely. They’re enough to strip away your anonymity on the Internet or call out your name as you walk down the street. The 10-Digit Rule means that as our electronic gadgets grow chattier, and databases swell, we must accept that in most walks of life, we’ll soon be wearing our names on our foreheads.
A study of 1990 U.S. Census data revealed that 87 percent of the people in the United States were uniquely identifiable with just three pieces of information
