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Beware of unrepentant businesses
To the editor, Rachel Alexander's Sept. 22 "Common Sense" column rightly calls attention to the dangers inherent in releasing social security numbers and other personal information to businesses, as the University of Arizona did with the CatCard. Unfortunately, the practice of "sharing" personal information about customers with "affiliates" or a "select group of vendors," as marketing mavens put it, has become common in today's business world. Many credit card companies, department stores, and mail-order houses routinely exchange their customers' names, addresses, telephone numbers and other personal information such as spending habits, with other businesses though legally they cannot give away social security or credit account numbers. Usually this sharing results merely in more junk mail in your mailbox. However, if you are not careful, you may end up being charged for items you do not order, as I was when my credit card company, a well-known national bank with several branches in Tucson "shared" personal information about me with an aggressive telemarketing company, which somehow obtained my credit card account number as well and billed me for insurance to protect my credit card from fraudulent use! Failure to fill out and return a form they had mailed to me at the address they obtained from my bank automatically activated the insurance. My advice is to read the fine print on all "terms of agreement" for charge cards and on all mail-order forms. Contact the companies in writing at the address they provide and refuse to authorize release of personal information. Get off marketing lists. Our university president apologized for having made a mistake. Companies like my bank do not think they have any reason to apologize.
Gail Bernstein |
