Spying Eyes

What Do They Know?

When you travel from site to site on the Internet, you leave a trail of hints about your interests and shopping patterns--clues that marketers eagerly snap up. And when you buy products online or sign up for financial services, you risk sensitive data, such as credit card and Social Security numbers, being intercepted by cybercriminals. Worst of all, your children are the most vulnerable, often targeted by companies that deliberately pry personal information out of them.

Fortunately, each of these problems has a solution, some employing technology, some involving diligence on your part.

"It's every man for himself," says Jason Catlett, founder of Junkbusters, a firm that alerts consumers to the annoyances of junk mail. "For the careful person, that can be an advantage."

Probably the biggest threat to online privacy is shopping. Bedazzled by an offer for some product, people freely type in their credit card and phone numbers, birth date and even Social Security number. Press the Submit button and it's easy for a hacker to intercept this data before it gets to the merchant. He can then sell this information to another criminal who steals people's identities and takes out credit cards in their names.

"If you know enough about someone, such as his Social Security and credit card numbers and place of employment, you can electronically get a $5,000 or $10,000 credit card," says David Szwak, a lawyer in Shreveport, Louisiana, who has represented dozens of identity-fraud victims.

A cybercriminal did it to Ken Robinson, a client of Szwak's in the Dallas area. Someone stole Ken's identity and bought a satellite dish, diamond ring and a houseful of furniture in Ken's name. Two years later, he's still trying to clear his record. "It's a never-ending nightmare," he says.