How personal is your personal information.

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This MSN India article points to a research by Seclore Technology that 80 per cent of consumers’ personal information lies in unprotected files

A year ago, Nimesh Shah, owner of a social media group, bought a car and got free insurance cover. Last month, another insurance company called him for a renewal. "They know my car’s model number, its colour and when the insurance expires. It’s as if a hidden camera is capturing my movements," he says.

According to research by Seclore Technology, 80 per cent of consumers’ personal information lies in unprotected files. Shah is the victim of a huge problem in India — lack of data security. Most of us apply for credit cards, banks loans, insurance, etc, and in the process pass on personal information to the service provider. However, this data is not always safe. It could be passed on to marketers or even be stolen by them.

Something very similar happened to me when I started receiving calls on my 2 days old mobile connections - they knew my full name, location and where I was working. Your data is now public very very fast.

My friend was telling me once that your email ID or phone numbers is worth Rs. 2/= at the first point of exchange and then it get’s into wholesale sharing network and falls down to 10-20 paise paise per contact. Which is really scary, my personal information is not just public but it’s also very cheap to get hold on to.

Things don’t stop at Email ID and Mobile numbers, do you know how much personal information can I collect if I wanted from you - without knowing you and you without knowing that how easily I am cheating you. I just need to create fake contest form and need to catch you in some mall where you are with your family, relaxed and not very bothered about privacy. I can easily collect this info from you.

- Full Nale
- Age
- Spouse’s Name & Age
- Address
- Mobile
- Household income
- Your possessions like - car, 2 wheeler, etc

Now this information is enough for any marketer to spamming you.

Personal information can be utilized for cheating and not just spamming.
This is where you should be careful and here are some tips.

- Never fill up credit card application forms or any other application or membership forms from the people who stop you on the streets. These can be representatives of a DSA or just fakers.
- Never give out the photocopies of your PAN Card, Credit Card, Passbook or any other document which such person will ask you to attach.
- If possible approach the bank or any such institution directly and submit the form with your own hands and always remember to take an acknowledgement so that you can track what’s happening with your submitted form.
- Lot of people have created fake accounts, or acquired mobile SIMs, demat accounts and many other things using these methods.

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