I’ve Been Had and I’m Not Taking it Any More

Many of us in the information technology world have worked hard to achieve the state of affairs in which we find ourselves. We are now much freer to transact business in an un-tethered fashion, enabling us to contribute more and more of our otherwise non-productive personal time to more gainful activities.

However, nagging and unintended consequences that threaten further progress are dogging us. We confront headlines about the proliferation of our most personal information throughout cyberspace. Our ages, physical characteristics (at least the ones we record), yearbook pictures, traffic violations, credit histories, failed relationships all seem to be readily available, and subject to violation by a growing number of predators, some benign, others felonious. Cyber outlaws are capturing our identities, compromising our finances, and promulgating false information about us.