As with most things controversial, they are a double edged sword. Although I abhor the thought of intrusion of privacy, I was also recently the victim of the crime of identity theft. Although it was a "low tech" theft of identity (a local bank had improperly disposed of some records - a dumpster diving thief found them and sold them to other thieves), it could just as well have been a hi-tech theft. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. Unfortunately, it actually is not a crime !!!! It is the act of obtaining goods or services fraudulently with a stolen identity (with the intent not to pay of course) that is a crime. The person whose identity was stolen is not the victim of the crime - the entity that was defrauded of the goods or services is the victim. The person whose identity was stolen is just stuck with the year long task of straightening everything out while your credit rating is in the tank ! ANYWAY, my case was solved as a result of readily obtainable and shared information between law enforcement agencies, combined with some good old fashioned hard police work. My hat is off to the detective that put this scum bag away ! It was technology that "enabled" his efforts, so it works both ways. We need to make sure that there are checks and balances to ensure its proper use. Obviously easier said than done. Tom Moll ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put "unsubscribe MAPINFO-L" in the message body, or contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
