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Old March 15, 2009, 03:05 PM   #17
BobH
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Join Date: March 4, 2009
Posts: 26
This Practice Might Be More Common Than We Think

I recently bought a handgun from a local sporting goods store - not Cabela's but a chain store - and the clerk wanted my telephone number. I told him that I use a cell phone exclusively and did not give out the number. He told me that they only used it to call to let the customer know the results of the bg check. I told him that I'd check back in a few days or a few hours. Had he insisted, I would have told him he lost the sale.

I then went to Sam's to get some stuff and returned to the store about 2 hours later. Paid for and picked up the handgun and left the store.

Because so many retailers now maintain automated data files AND because the laws are such that the data - once given to them is theirs to do with as the please as long as its use is not 'illegal' - I have started to refuse to give them information unless it's required to complete a transaction (e.g. credit card info). I don't want my phone number or address or any other data sold to a third party to be used as they choose. I find it incredible that credit bureaus and lenders are trying to put the onus on consumers to guard their information to prevent identity theft when they sell and resell the data with impunity. It is the cavalier fashion in which they use but fail to guard data that creates the environment in which identify abuses occur.

If delivery to my residence is part of the deal, I give my address but otherwise I won't. If an email addy is required, I give them a hotmail or gmail addy that I never use. This is especially problematic for online purchases. The software used to take your order information frequently has a mandatory field for your phone number. I never give anything but 999-999-9999. I was amazed to find that 99.8% of them accept that without quibble. Those sites that edit for the number don't get my business. I have occasionally found vendors who claim that FedEx or UPS requires a phone number. I tell them to find a different means to ship it or lose the sale.

I consider the right to privacy to be as important as those stated in the first 10 amendments (Bill of Rights). I wish we had overt protection for the right to privacy stated in the Constitution and protected by vigilance on the part of the ACLU and SCOTUS. Apparently many do not share my concern about personal privacy - indeed many seek notoriety or willingly engage in activities that make them and their lives public property.

I wish that all consumers would rise up and protest the slipshod seller practices that have created another criminal industry. Be aware of the potential for abuse. Refuse to participate. Make a point with persons of authority (managers instead of clerks) and let your opposition be known. Do you still give your SSN to just anyone who asks for it?
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