Page 23 - ARUBATODDAY 22AUG,2015

TECHNOLOGY A23
Saturday 22 August 2015

Experts: Deleted online information never actually goes away

BREE FOWLER think about protecting it or when Web browsers speak, isn’t a credit card Security Numbers for both
AP Technology Writer everywhere you go on the automatically fill in forms or consumer goods. The identification and ac-
NEW YORK (AP) — The Ash- Internet.” with their name, address capital is personal informa- cess?” he questions. “Any
ley Madison hack is a big That means taking a look at and other details, says Pe- tion that if released could data that can never be
reminder to all Web users: a website’s business to get ter Tyrrell, chief operating be ruinous personally, and changed can be used for
If you submit private data an idea of how much they officer of the data secu- financially too.” identity, but should never
online, chances are it will value information secu- rity firm Digital Guardian. Breaches, whether they be used for access.”
never fully be deleted. rity and even asking them Meanwhile, worries about be at a major retailer such And no matter how legiti-
The hackers, who stole the about their data retention data theft and loss have as Target Corp., a health mate a company or web-
data about a month ago practices. Banks, which prompted companies to insurance company such site may be, people need
and then posted it online deal in financial informa- back up important infor- as Anthem Inc., or Ashley to be aware that they’re
this week, claimed in a
statement that part of the A June 10, 2015 photo from files showing Ashley Madison’s Korean web site on a computer screen in Seoul, South Korea. U.S.
reason for the theft was government employees with sensitive jobs in national security or law enforcement were among hundreds of federal workers
Ashley Madison’s fraudu- found to be using government networks to access and pay membership fees to the cheating website Ashley Madison, The
lent promise to fully delete Associated Press has learned. The list includes at least two assistant U.S. attorneys, an information technology administrator in the
users’ information if they White House’s support staff, a Justice Department investigator, a division chief, and a government hacker and counterterrorism
paid the company a $19 employee at the Homeland Security Department. Others visited from networks operated by the Pentagon.
fee. The website — whose
slogan is “Life is short. Have Associated Press
an affair” — is marketed
to people looking for ex- tion, and large retailers, mation in multiple places. Madison, have become rolling the dice every time
tramarital relationships. It who have a vested interest But both practices increase so common that people they hand over personal
purports to have about 39 in getting people to shop the likelihood that informa- should give some serious information.
million members. online, are probably safer tion could be leaked or thought before putting Scott Vernick, partner and
The hackers said the com- bets than a dating site. shared. And it means that personal information on- head of the data security
pany failed to delete the “Ashley Madison actually even when a person thinks line, says Caleb Barlow, a and privacy practice at
information, even though charges you to remove that their information has vice president at IBM’s se- the law firm Fox Rothschild
it collected the fees. Toron- your information when you been permanently delet- curity division. LLP, says consumers have
to-based Avid Life Media remove your account,” ed, chances are there are And while Social Security the right to expect a cer-
Inc., Ashley Madison’s par- he says. “That’s a big clue still copies floating around numbers weren’t involved tain level of online security,
ent company, hasn’t com- about how they feel about somewhere. Ashley Madison hack, depending on the industry
mented on the hackers’ your personal information.” “Ashley Madison is a com- people should be espe- standards of the company
accusation. A company People also need to some- pany with a service that’s cially wary of using them they’re dealing with.
spokesman didn’t respond times take a pass on con- completely predicated on as a backup password to “But those expectations
to multiple emails seeking venience in the name of privacy,” Tyrrell says, add- access online information, have to be muted by the
comment. online security. ing that that characteristic given the potentially disas- knowledge that they’re al-
It’s virtually impossible to Many consumers like it sets it apart from many tra- trous consequences that ways taking a risk, whether
exist in modern society when e-commerce sites ditional e-commerce sites could result if they’re inter- they’re ordering from Am-
without putting at least have their credit card and such as retailers. cepted, he says. azon Prime or from Ashley
some personal information other information on file, “Here the capital, so to “Why are we using Social Madison,” Vernick says.q
online. Many people can’t
get through a day without
using the Internet to shop,
pay a bill, or check their
credit card balance.
People have become ac-
customed to trusting their
most precious personal in-
formation to companies.
But they also need to know
that all of that information
is being shared more than
they would expect, priva-
cy experts say.
Before you hit “submit,”
stop and think before giv-
ing up your personal infor-
mation to any kind of web-
site, said Michael Kaiser,
executive director of the
National Cyber Security Al-
liance, an industry-funded
group that educates con-
sumers about cybersecu-
rity.
“Personal information is like
money, and you don’t just
give away your money,”
Kaiser says. “In the environ-
ment we’re in right now,
you have to value it and