Letters to PC World, July 2007

RFID Credit Cards

Regarding "New Credit Cards Leak Personal Info" [News and Trends, May]: Thanks so much for a great article. Even though I have an American Express card (like the one pictured in the article), I never knew what that chip in the card did. Since the article raised my concern about it, I called American Express. It turns out that the chip can be deactivated with a phone call to the customer service department. Mine is now deactivated.

Bob Scalcione, via e-mail

Editor's response: To clarify, American Express says it can turn off ExpressPay processing for an account so that your "Blue" card can no longer be used for contactless purchases--but that procedure doesn't actually disable the chip in the card, leaving it theoretically readable (though it won't send out your name). If you don't want contactless technology in your card, you'll have to ask the company for a new one.

I can't believe credit card companies are so oblivious to the dangers involved with broadcasting credit card information via RFID. A couple of thieves on a crowded subway could collect a basketful of information during one rush hour.

Phil Sasak, Solon, Ohio

Spyware Removal

One missed tool for removing spyware [Hassle-Free PC, May] that I use, in addition to some of those mentioned, is X-Setup Pro. I had to use it to eradicate a piece of spyware that hijacked my search page in Internet Explorer. No other tool, not even HijackThis, would remove this spyware.

Matt Tyler, via e-mail

I would like to say a big thank you for the article "How to Free Your PC From Spyware." I thought I was never going to rid my PC of the Starware adware program, but your suggestions worked. And I actually had other such items on my computer that I wasn't even aware of.

Robin Thompson, Phoenix

Antispam Addresses

Erik Larkin wrote about disposable e-mail addresses to shut down spammers [Privacy Watch, May], and he mentioned a couple of services costing $20 per year. However, I have used Spamex happily for the past several years, for about $10 per year. I can have 500 disposable addresses that I can turn on and off. And an antispam utility that comes free from my ISP, Road Runner, works well in a different manner: I can put a block on any address from which I don't wish to receive messages again. After a couple of weeks, most of the spam went to quarantine.

Jack L. Underwood, Schenectady, New York

Great tips on disposable e-mail addresses. I have a fourth to recommend: a harvest-proof e-mail link that costs nothing and that you use on your Web site (if you have one). Why pay anything when you can employ the services of one of the Internet's most reliable programmers?

Will Bontrager, known for his excellent WillMaster Web development software (much of which is free), came up with a nifty idea. Go to flow-to.com to read about it and to give it a try. It's especially useful if you have a special e-mail address with your ISP.

Judy Vorfeld, Peoria, Arizona