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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

A 10-Digit Key Code to Your Private Life: Your Cellphone Number

The next time someone asks you for your cellphone number, you may want to think twice about giving it.
The cellphone number is more than just a bunch of digits. It is increasingly used as a link to private information maintained by all sorts of companies, including money lenders and social networks. It can be used to monitor and predict what you buy, look for online or even watch on television.
It has become “kind of a key into the room of your life and information about you,” said Edward M. Stroz, a former high-tech crime agent for the F.B.I. who is co-president of Stroz Friedberg, a private investigator.
Yet the cellphone number is not a legally regulated piece of information like a Social Security number, which companies are required to keep private. And we are told to hide and protect our Social Security numbers while most of us don’t hesitate when asked to write a cellphone number on a form or share it with someone we barely know.
That is a growing issue for young people, since two sets of digits may well be with them for life: their Social Security number and their cellphone number.
Nearly half of all American households have given up their landlines and have only wireless phone service — a figure that has risen more than 10 percentage points in just three years. Among people ages 25 to 29, the share of homes that have only wireless phone service stands at 73 percent, according to government statistics.
Taylor Gallanter, a 23-year-old hair stylist in San Francisco, has had her cellphone number since she was 15. She has never had a landline and doubts she ever will.  
She knows how valuable her cellphone number is. She does not provide it on online forms unless it is required. Using her email address as contact information, she said, seems less invasive and risky.
“With just your cellphone number and name, I know they can get all sorts of information about you,” Ms. Gallanter said.
In fact, investigators find that a cellphone number is often even more useful than a Social Security number because it is tied to so many databases and is connected to a device you almost always have with you, said Austin Berglas, a former F.B.I. agent who is senior managing director of K2 Intelligence, a private investigator.
“The point is the cellphone number can be a gateway to all sorts of other information,” said Robert Schoshinski, the assistant director for privacy and identity protection at the Federal Trade Commission. “People should think about it.”
The use of the cellphone number in new, unanticipated ways has echoes in the history of the Social Security number, which was created in 1936. Its original purpose was to enable the nation’s nascent social insurance system to maintain accurate records of workers covered under the program. It was never meant as a general-purpose identification number.
Gradually, the simplicity of using a unique number to identify people encouraged the widespread use by other government agencies and corporations. That took off starting in the 1960s, when mainframe computers made it possible to create huge digital files on citizens and customers.
The spread of the Social Security number as a quick and easy identifier, found in all kinds of corporate and government databases, has smoothed the way for commerce. But there have been unintended consequences.
“That Social Security numbers are so broadly used and often so poorly protected is a major cause of the current epidemic of identity theft,” said Alessandro Acquisti, a computer scientist and privacy expert at Carnegie Mellon University.
The total losses in the United States from stolen identities used in crimes like credit card and loan fraud were $15 billion last year, Javelin, a research and consulting firm, estimated. And 11 percent of American adults say they lost money last year in a telephone swindle, according to a Harris Poll survey sponsored by Truecaller, a Swedish maker of a cellphone app with features like caller ID and spam blocking.
But if a cellphone number and the intimate computer behind it open a door to new risks, technology, as is so often the case, can also be employed to combat those risks.
Take fraud prevention. When shoppers use Affirm, a start-up that offers an alternative to credit cards for online purchases, the company’s software mines many data sources and approves or rejects a loan within a minute or so.
To perform that feat of technical wizardry, Affirm asks borrowers for a few pieces of personal information, including their names and dates of birth.
But the strongest identifier and conduit to useful information is the cellphone number, which acts like “the digital equivalent of the Social Security number,” said Max Levchin, chief executive of Affirm.
When a customer of Affirm wants to get an installment loan to buy, say, an $850 mattress or a $3,000 mountain bike, the company sends the person a temporary personal identification number in a text message.
The same form of authentication is widely used by banks, payment systems like PayPal and other companies before certain transactions are approved. The temporary ID numbers typically remain valid for only 30 seconds to 180 seconds, increasing the odds that the person trying to borrow or buy is indeed the same person who owns the phone with that number.
It’s not foolproof, but if a cellphone is lost or stolen, it is typically locked. It can be hacked into, but that takes a separate set of skills. By contrast, a stolen Social Security number is a permanent pathway to identity theft.
“What you can do with the cellphone number and mobile technology represents a pretty substantial advantage in the ongoing war against fraud and identity theft,” said Rajeev Date, a venture investor and former banker, who was previously deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
But a cellphone-only life presents problems for many independent professionals and workers at start-ups and small businesses, who make business calls on their personal cellphones. So Ms. Gallanter, a partner in a mobile barbershop in a van, became one of the five million people who have installed the new app Sideline this year to add a second number to their cellphones.
The service is free for individuals and $10 a month a number for groups of workers in a business, who get extra features like a company directory and voice mail transcription. One of Sideline’s ad mottos is: “Keep your personal number private. Add a second number to your smartphone.”
“This gives you a second mobile identity, which more and more people need today,” said Greg Woock, chief executive of Pinger, a start-up in San Jose, Calif., that created the Sideline software and service.

Source:   nytimes.com

The Twelve Scams Of Christmas

The Better Business Bureau is warning shoppers about holiday-themed scams.
"When consumers let their guard down they become the perfect target for fly-by-night Internet merchants, phishers and charitable imposters," says Dennis Horton, director of the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau. "Each year at Christmas consumers lose millions of dollars to scam artists who rip them off."
Here is the list of scams the BBB is telling us to watch out for as we do our Christmas shopping:
1. Secret Sister Exchange: A social media scam that claims if you buy a $10 gift and send it to a "secret sister," you will receive anywhere from six to 36 in return. This is a variation on "pyramid schemes" and it's illegal.
2. Help Scams: Calls to unsuspecting relatives or friends from imposters who claim to be a grandchild, niece, nephew or friend, who is traveling, and they need emergency financial help to cover medical or legal expenses.
3. Seasonal Travel Scams: Whether it's a promise of a free or discounted trip, phony rental listings, or con men telling timeshare sellers they've got a buyer lined up, scammers are working to rip you off. Check out any offers of great travel deals.
4. Point of sale Malware:is malicious software expressly written to steal customer payment data -- especially credit card data -- from retail checkout systems. Check your credit card statements to make sure you don't have unwanted charges as a result of a point-of-sale breach of your credit security.
5. Phony charities: 'Tis the season to donate, but be wary of fake charities. Do your research and double check the site URL. Check out charities at http://ask.bbb.org/.
6. Fake coupons: Avoid the unwanted gift of malware and always verify that e-cards or coupons are from someone you know and are from a trustworthy site.
7. Fake shipping notifications: Think twice before clicking links in shipping notification emails. Always verify the shipping company before giving out your personal information.
8. ATM Skimmers: The typical ATM skimmer is a device smaller than a deck of cards that fits over the existing card reader. It is essentially a malicious card reader that grabs the data off the card's magnetic stripe so that the thief can harvest data from every person that swipes their cards.
9. Fake Romance: Scammers create fake online profiles using photos of other people - even stolen pictures of real military personnel. They profess their love quickly. And they tug at your heartstrings with made-up stories about how they need money - for emergencies, hospital bills, or travel.
10. Fake Apps/phony e-tailers: Today, smartphones act not only as a phone but also a credit card, house key, camera and more. Malware can access your device via apps. Do your research and stick to official app stores when downloading.
11. Free gift cards: Pop-up ads or emails offering free gift cards are often just a ploy to get your personal information that can later be used for identity theft.
12. Phishing emails: Be wary unexpected deals or product promotions from stores or sellers you have never dealt with. There will be people trying to take advantage of buyers where the victim could be subject to phishing tactics or just stolen money for an order that will never come in.

Source:  wifr.com

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Dad Asks His Little Girl To Sing Her Favourite Song. What He Captures On Video… It’s Going VIRAL!

“Something, something, part of your world!” Okay, so that’s me trying to sing Part Of Your World from Disney’s The Little Mermaid without the lyrics in front of me. As it turns out, not only do I not remember 99% of the words, the lyrics are actually “part of that world.” Whoops. Fortunately, 3-year-old Claire knows the song much better than I do. Indeed, it’s Part Of Your World is her favourite song (pre-Frozen era, that is). So what happens Dad happens to be a music producer with a home studio? Well, you record your little girl and make the most adorable music video ever that she will no doubt cherish for the rest of her life!

 
 

Source: metaspoon.com