Electronic Surveillance: How to Protect Yourself

Electronic Surveillance and the Loss of Privacy

Electronic surveillance has matured to the point where a camera the size of a pinhead and an equally miniaturized microphone can provide both a visual and an audio record of your activities.

The camera and microphone on your smartphone or laptop can be remotely activated by hidden software to monitor everything you do. Every keystroke you make can likewise be monitored.

Conventions are held (mostly closed to the public) that display an incredible array of technological wizardry devoted to the latest developments in electronic surveillance.

If privacy isn’t altogether extinct, electronic technology has made it an endangered species.

How to Protect Yourself from Electronic Surveillance

#1: Secure Your Smart Home

Google, Amazon, and many other companies make it easy for us to have a smart home. But connecting devices in your home to the internet turns every one of them into a security threat. The potential for a security breach increases with each smart device you connect.

If you must use smart devices, keep these tips in mind:

• Ensure that smart devices receive regular security updates from their manufacturers.
• Use strong, unique passwords for each device and enable two-factor authentication where available.
• Disable smart features when not in use, unplug devices when possible, and limit data sharing.
• Strengthen router security and consider using a virtual private network (VPN) for encrypted internet connections.
• Periodically reboot devices to purge potential malware and physically destroy old devices before disposal.

#2: Protect Your Credit Records

The 2017 Equifax hack of 148 million credit records proved beyond doubt that credit bureaus have a depraved indifference to the security of credit files. Your credit records are merely a product to be bought and sold, and any limits to this practice resisted through concerted lobbying. As with so many other aspects of privacy and security, your only recourse is to take steps to protect these records yourself.

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to do so: place a security freeze, also known as a credit freeze, on your credit files.

A security freeze will prevent most fraud attempts that rely on impersonating you to obtain credit. Even if someone penetrates credit bureau files to obtain your name, SSN, date of birth, etc., they will find it almost impossible to borrow money or otherwise obtain credit in your name.

Security freezes are authorized under the laws of all 50 states. If someone fraudulently accesses your credit report despite the freeze, you’re protected from financial liability.

#: 3 Protect Your Financial Records

To lower the profile of your bank account and protect yourself from fraud, consider the following strategies:

• Use personal checks or credit cards only to pay for ordinary, everyday expenses. Don’t use checks or credit cards for any purchase that you’d rather keep private. Pay for such purchases with cash or a money order.
• Carry a minimal account balance in your bank accounts.Larger accounts merit investigation more often than smaller ones.
• Beware of “suspicious transactions” in your bank account. In particular, avoid “structuring” cash transactions to steer clear of mandatory disclosure requirements to the US Treasury. Other transactions that may result in a bank filing a Suspicious Activities Report (SAR) to the Treasury include transactions involving non-US persons or companies if there is no history of such transactions; attempts to use cash to complete a transaction more typically handled by a wire transfer or check; the use of checks endorsed to a third party; and transactions that appear to be beyond your means or that are larger than those you typically make.
• Use an out-of-state bank.This makes it harder for in-state creditors or law enforcement agencies to get information about your account. The out-of-state bank may ask you why you’re not using a bank in your own state. A satisfactory answer may be that you’re doing business in that state or will soon be moving there, and that you need a local account for that purpose.
• Borrow money privately. Ordinary loans generally require you to disclose the purpose of the loan and complete a financial statement. Any substantial misstatement of facts on this document may be considered bank fraud. If you’d rather not disclose this much information, there are alternatives. An overdraft checking account is the simplest one. Just write a check payable to cash and redeem it at the teller window. A cash advance on a credit card is another alternative as is a home equity line of credit (HELOC).
• Avoid safe deposit boxes at banks.Instead, consider renting a box at a private vault. Private vaults are not considered financial institutions and are thus not subject to the record-keeping or suspicious activities reporting provisions that apply to banks under the Bank Secrecy Act. Also, most private vault services do not monitor obituary listings, so it is unlikely the box would be sealed upon your death. Private vaults are more expensive than safety deposit boxes, but lower insurance costs may make up for the additional fees.

#4: Protect Your Social Security

The Privacy Act of 1974 limits government use of your SSN. The agency requesting it must tell you for what purpose it is being used and whether its use is mandatory. However, there are numerous exceptions.

But there are no legal limitations on the private use of SSNs. You’ll find that everyone wants it for what they consider “legitimate” reasons; from renting an apartment to visiting a doctor.

Unless a business is legally required to ask for your SSN, you should avoid disclosing it to them. You will need to disclose it when opening a bank account or borrowing money.

But in most other cases, you can leave an entry on a form requesting your SSN blank. Or, insert “N/A.” Rarely is this omission challenged. If it is, ask if you can insert an alternative number (e.g., your driver’s license number) on the form. Don’t use a fictitious SSN; this is a federal crime.

Insurance companies and utility companies may also request your SSN so that they can retrieve a credit report. But it’s not generally required to obtain insurance coverage or utility service. However, you might not be eligible for the least expensive insurance coverage, and a utility company might require you to pay a deposit to start service.

We also suggest that you check your Social Security records at least annually. You can sign up to receive an annual benefits statement at www.ssa.gov. Follow the link to “ my Social Security” and set up an account so that you can review your records. This precaution avoids the increasing threat of someone filing false tax returns using your SSN or even fraudulently collecting benefits they never earned.

Also, never disclose your SSN online, via email, or over the phone unless you’re 100% sure a request for it is legitimate. We know of a number of scams which involve calling or texting a supposedly lucky “winner” of a contest. But you won’t receive the prize until you disclose your SSN. Of course, the prize is fictitious – and armed with your SSN, a fraudster can impersonate you; even steal your identity. In other scams, the caller impersonates an IRS agent and asks for a “confirmation” of your SSN.

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