Managing Your Personal Information So how can a responsible consumer minimize the risk of identity theft, as well as the potential for damage? When it involves your personal information, exercise caution and prudence. DO IT NOW Place passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers. When you’re asked for your mother’s maiden name on an application for a new account, try using a password instead. Secure personal information in your home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having service work done in your home. Ask about information security procedures in your workplace. Find out who has access to your personal information and verify that your records are kept in a secure location. Ask about the disposal procedures for those records as well. EVERYDAY DILIGENCE Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet unless you’ve initiated the contact or are sure you know who you’re dealing with. Identity thieves can be skilled liars, and may pose as representatives of banks, Internet service providers (ISPs), or even government agencies to get you to reveal identifying information. Before you divulge any personal information, confirm that you’re dealing with a legitimate representative of a legitimate organization. Double check by calling customer service using the number on your account statement or in the telephone book. Guard your mail and trash from theft. Deposit outgoing mail in post office collection boxes or at your local post office instead of an unsecured mailbox. Remove mail from your mailbox promptly. If you’re planning to be away from home and can’t pick up your mail, call the U.S. Postal Service at 1-800-275-8777 to ask for a vacation hold. To thwart a thief who may pick through your trash or recycling bins, tear or shred your charge receipts, copies of credit applications or offers, insurance forms, physician statements,  checks and bank statements, and expired charge cards. Before revealing any identifying information (for example, on an application), ask how it will be used and secured, and whether it will be shared with others. Find out if you have a say about the use of your information. For example, can you choose  to have it kept confidential? Keep your Social Security card in a secure place and give your SSN only when absolutely necessary. Ask to use other types of identifiers when possible. If your state uses your SSN as your driver’s license number, ask to substitute another number. Limit the identification information and the number of credit and debit cards that you carry to what you’ll actually need. Keep your purse or wallet in a safe place at work. CONSIDER YOUR COMPUTER Your computer can be a goldmine of  personal information to an identity thief. Here’s how you can safeguard your computer and the personal information it stores: Update your virus protection software  regularly. Computer viruses can have damaging effects, including introducing program code that causes your computer to send out files or other stored nformation. Look for security repairs and patches you can download from your operating system’s Web site. Don’t download files from strangers or click on hyperlinks from people you don’t know. Opening a file could expose your system to a computer virus or a program that could hijack your modem. Use a firewall, especially if you have a high-speed or "always on" connection to the Internet. The firewall allows you to limit uninvited access to your computer. Without a firewall, hackers can take over your computer and access sensitive information. Use a secure browser — software that encrypts or scrambles information you send over the Internet — to guard the safety of your online transactions. When you’re submitting information, look for the "lock" icon on the status bar. It’s a symbol that your information is secure during transmission. Try not to store financial information on your laptop unless absolutely necessary. If you do, use a "strong" password — that is, a combination of letters (upper and lower case), numbers, and symbols. Avoid using an automatic log-in feature that saves your user name and password; Always log off when you’re finished. If your laptop gets stolen, the thief will have a hard time accessing sensitive information. Delete any personal information stored on your computer before you dispose of it. Use a "wipe" utility program, which overwrites the entire hard drive and makes the files unrecoverable. Read Web site privacy policies. They should answer questions about the access to and accuracy, security, and control of personal information the site collects, as well as how sensitive information will be used, and whether it will be provided to third parties. A Special Word About Social Security Numbers Very likely, your employer and financial institution will need your SSN for wage and tax reporting purposes. Other private businesses may ask you for your SSN to do a credit check, such as when you apply for a car loan. Sometimes, however, they simply want your SSN for general record keeping. If someone asks for your SSN, ask the following questions: Why do you need it? How will it be used? How do you protect it from being stolen? What will happen if I don't give it to you? If you don't provide your SSN, some businesses may not provide you with the service or benefit you want. Getting satisfactory answers to your questions will help you to decide whether you want to share your SSN with the business.