Who Are You?

I don't usually get personal on my site. I'm too boring. But I ran into an interesting item about identity theft in the UK and decided to offer something from my experience.

For years I shreded everything having my name, Social Security number, address, bank account numbers and such. I was even paranoid enough to use a cross-shredder that chopped such documents into tiny squares. It seemed to work. My identity remained intact.

Then, while on vacation in a foreign country, I had my laptop stolen. Great. It only contained all the info of my life including passwords, scans of my driver's license, passport, bank statements, birth certificate and so on.

Long story short. The thief was an idiot. He/she didn't realise what they had. If they did understand the information's importance, I might have had to fight to save my identity.

I still recommend shredding (why two "D's"?) and highly recommend not leaving your laptop unattended.