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Essential Guards

These tips give you an excellent start in regaining your privacy, and they require little sacrifice or effort.

>>TIP Opt out early and often. If a Web site offers you the opportunity to receive "special offers" from "valuable sponsors," politely say no thanks. Though most sites are unlikely to abuse contact information, they may share data with third parties, get purchased by a company that has less regard for your privacy, or file for bankruptcy and be forced to sell their customer lists, as Garden.com and Webvan did.

>>TIP Don't get personal at work. If you use your employer's PC or Internet access to send a personal note, your boss has the right to read it. A survey by the American Management Association says nearly half of U.S. corporations monitor employees' e-mail. For personal messages, use a private Net account on your own system.

>>TIP Surf smarter. Your boss may also watch where you go on the Web. So save online games and chat rooms for your own time. "My basic advice is, don't do anything on your computer at work that you wouldn't do if you knew someone was staring over your shoulder," says Andrew Schulman, a Santa Rosa, California-based researcher for the Privacy Foundation.

>>TIP Learn what's allowed. Ask your boss if your company tracks employee Internet use. Corporations should provide a written policy outlining how and when they monitor employees' online activities, and what they do with this information.

>>TIP Use a front. Establish a second e-mail account with Hotmail or Yahoo Mail, and use this address when registering at Web sites. Spam will go there instead of clogging your primary in-box.

>>TIP Remain unlisted. Don't publish your private e-mail address on your personal Web site or in online discussion forums where spambots can harvest it.

>>TIP Keep it to yourself. Most sweepstakes, surveys, and product warranty cards are merely cheap ways of gathering your data. "Giving personal information is like spending money," says Robert Gellman, a privacy consultant in Washington, D.C. "Make sure you're getting something of real value in exchange."

>>TIP Be antisocial. Guard your Social Security number jealously; few entities beyond the IRS and your employer really require it. "Your SSN makes it all too easy to cross-reference databases that should never come near each other," notes John R. Levine, author of Internet for Dummies.

>>TIP Tell off telemarketers. When telemarketers ring at dinnertime, ask to be put on their "do not call" lists. Get a free copy of Enigma Anti-Telemarketing Software to keep track of who called you.

>>TIP Check your credit history. Order an annual credit report. "If you're a victim of identity theft, you'll have a better chance of catching it early and you'll minimize the hassles in recovering your financial health," says Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego. For about $9, you can order reports from Equifax, Experian, or Trans Union; it's free if a lender has recently turned down your credit request.