Regardless of our political bends, I think all of us agree that the internet is here to stay and that protecting our privacy on-line and securing our on-line transactions is paramount.
Apparently this is one area where there is some bi-partisan agreement and cooperation in Washington. The two Johns, John Kerry and John McCain, are co-sponsoring a bill to protect consumers privacy and security on-line.
Click here to check out a summary of the bill
Click here to view the bill in its entirety
I got a letter from my bank a few weeks ago about a company they used to do email marketing that got hacked. It wasn't really clear in the letter what they were trying to tell me but I had a pretty good idea from all the disclaimers I got with my account that they were free to share my contact information with third party companies they may use for marketing purposes. They assured me they don't share any other personally identifying information like my account numbers, balances or social security number.
I got a call from my bank not long after this. My first response was to tell the caller that I don't discuss my banking over the phone. He assured me that he was calling to give me information, not to get information from me. So I said, go ahead. Then he needed me to confirm my address. At that point I repeated that I was not interested, thanked him and hung up.
It may seem paranoid, but I believe in erring on the side of caution on line and on the phone. Only when I contact my bank myself with a call or via email will I share any information. I will never click through a link from an email, I will never call a phone number from an email. I go strait to my on-line banking or credit card site and contact them using the contact info they provide.
You can't be too careful now days. Especially when your bank and credit card companies are sharing your information with third parties.
We had a great time this weekend at the 2011 Siren Expo. Met a lot of great people, handed out CrexTechs mouse pads and pencils and gave away prizes including 2 Vipre subscription, a bunch of 2 gig thumb drives, 4 gig memory cards and a couple of sets of mini-bug iPod speakers. We will be informing winners via email.
Come and get a CrexTechs mouse pad and sign up for our drawings at the Siren Expo Saturday 9-4 and Sunday 10-3. We will also be doing some PC gaming on a custom built system.
Hope to see you all there!
Jacques Deseve it the winner of the one year subscription to Vipre Anti-Virus. He answered the promo question correctly.
One possible answer was: Because two sets of eyes on a problem are always better than one. Plus Malwarebytes and Vipre work well in tandem, neither regarding the other as an "enemy" program.
Malwarebytes is free and downloadable from our website Even if you did not win, you can purchase your own subscription to Vipre Anti-Virus from this page as well using PayPal or your own credit card.
Congratulations Jacques!!
Don't forget, we will be at the Siren Expo Saturday and Sunday, April 9th and 10th. Come on over and see us. Get some hands on experience with PC Gaming, learn what CrexTechs is all about, and enter our drawing to win prizes (need not be present to win)!!
See you there!