Who owns your identity?
We don't think about it much, even in this day of identity theft, even though it is an important question. A question that a large hunk of the future of business and privacy may hinge on.
Who owns your identity?
The quick and easy answer would be "Well, I do, of course!" But do you? How much do you give away on a daily basis? I know my personal information is floating around in dozens of (if not more) places. Do you know the policies of those places regarding your identity information?
Lots of AT&T users may have thought they knew the policies. But those policies have just been "clarified" by a change to the terms of its privacy policy that you must agree to in order to get their digital services. The bottom line is: they officially own your identity information and can do whatever they want with it.
Here's a hunk of the article:
AT&T rewrites rules: Your data isn't yours
AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The changes are significant because they appear to give the telecom giant more latitude when it comes to sharing customers' personal data with government officials.
The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it "to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process."
The policy also indicates that AT&T will track the viewing habits of customers of its new video service -- something that cable and satellite providers are prohibited from doing.
Moreover, AT&T (formerly known as SBC) is requiring customers to agree to its updated privacy policy as a condition for service -- a new move that legal experts say will reduce customers' recourse for any future data sharing with government authorities or others.
This is a whole can of worms that's going to be opened in a lot of places now. There's a lot of interesting stuff in the full article, read it.
So... who owns your identity? And what are they going to do with it?
(Personally, I'm a bit torn on this issue... the business side of me realizes that the companies need at least some of that information in order to provide the customer with proper service. But then there's the other side that simply screams: "What the hell? I should have a distinct say in anything that even vaguely involves my identity!"
(There's a middle road somewhere... or a complete paradigm shift... I'm still trying to find my opinion on it..."
Who owns your identity?
The quick and easy answer would be "Well, I do, of course!" But do you? How much do you give away on a daily basis? I know my personal information is floating around in dozens of (if not more) places. Do you know the policies of those places regarding your identity information?
Lots of AT&T users may have thought they knew the policies. But those policies have just been "clarified" by a change to the terms of its privacy policy that you must agree to in order to get their digital services. The bottom line is: they officially own your identity information and can do whatever they want with it.
Here's a hunk of the article:
AT&T rewrites rules: Your data isn't yours
AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The changes are significant because they appear to give the telecom giant more latitude when it comes to sharing customers' personal data with government officials.
The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it "to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process."
The policy also indicates that AT&T will track the viewing habits of customers of its new video service -- something that cable and satellite providers are prohibited from doing.
Moreover, AT&T (formerly known as SBC) is requiring customers to agree to its updated privacy policy as a condition for service -- a new move that legal experts say will reduce customers' recourse for any future data sharing with government authorities or others.
This is a whole can of worms that's going to be opened in a lot of places now. There's a lot of interesting stuff in the full article, read it.
So... who owns your identity? And what are they going to do with it?
(Personally, I'm a bit torn on this issue... the business side of me realizes that the companies need at least some of that information in order to provide the customer with proper service. But then there's the other side that simply screams: "What the hell? I should have a distinct say in anything that even vaguely involves my identity!"
(There's a middle road somewhere... or a complete paradigm shift... I'm still trying to find my opinion on it..."