Identity Theft is the growth industry of the year, or at least the one the media likes to write about. (Remind me again of the website which tracks negative/scary vs positive media stories again please.) Just like I wonder about McAfee secretly releasing some of the viruses, I wonder if Fellowes might be behind some of these ID thefts. I'm sure it is still true that the old registers which still print your full credit card number are dramatically more risky than the net, yet most of the press seems to focus on the web. I guess it's a better story.

Related. The other day I called a doctor's office to make an appointment. The young girl who answered the phone asked for my name, and then said "Do you still live at [such-and-such address]"? I said no. She said "are you the Paul English with birthdate [MM/DD/YY]? Is your social security number [NNN-NN-NNNN]?"

I am not making this up.

She then asked me what my social security number was; which of course gave me pause. It sure is annoying that the high and mighty medical world gets to ask you for this info...

¶3:03 PM; digg