[speaker001:] Well, on this subject of invasion of privacy, yes, it's very easy for anybody to find out about you. Your,
[speaker002:] Well, I don't really like that very much.
[speaker001:] Yeah, uh, the special on channel thirteen that was broadcast, I think, last week or so ago, it detailed how this one person went about finding out this particular pers-, from this particular person his home mortgage, how much he pays for it, what his payments are, uh, his, uh, Social Security number, driver's license, any kind of records he may have. Uh, their credit card and the status of their credit.
[speaker002:] What was the reason why somebody was trying to find out all that stuff?
[speaker001:] It was just as a demonstration to show
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] those who were watching it how easily obtainable information is on any single person. And it was, mostly it dealt with, uh, marketing companies, these, uh, direct marketing,
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker001:] associations.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] That was the primary subject. That's how they obtain information about segments of society and group them into age brackets, uh, their habits, their hobbies, their income.
[speaker002:] Um.
[speaker001:] And they're able to do that through all the manipulations of the computer.
[speaker002:] Well, that, that's not really good. I don't know, I guess that's an invasion of privacy. I'm not sure that that's an everyday thing, though, at least not for, you know, an individual.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Something that I feel is a, is a, pretty much an invasion of privacy is something that's really so common that it's accepted as the norm now, is the op-, the open office concept.
[speaker001:] The open office?
[speaker002:] Uh-huh, where they have the, you know, the little partition dividers,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] throughout a, a large room and, and people have little cubicles. Well, that's all fine and good, but you don't really have any privacy at all.
[speaker001:] Not insofar as maybe making conversation with somebody, I suppose, because it, you can easily be overhear-, overheard
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] and they get, I suppose any items that you have laying out can be easily seen.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Yeah, there's, there is,
[speaker002:] And, and it's not, it's not just that, it's, uh, the whole thing about, you know, if, if you're trying to concentrate, well, it's rather hard, sometimes it's almost impossible to do
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] because, um, you know, your, uh, your time, your space is, is not your own space.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And I work in a situation like that and I, I really kind of have a problem with that.
[speaker001:] Do you work with, uh, mixed company, male and female or,
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah. Is there anybody who doesn't?
[speaker001:] Well, there are a few out there.
[speaker002:] Um.
[speaker001:] It's, I suppose it depends on who you're working for and where at.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] But, um, my own environment is open totally. There are no cubicles. There's nothing to block anything.
[speaker002:] Um.
[speaker001:] So, yeah, but, um, I guess we're changing ever so rapidly in the devices of communications that anything can be obtained from anybody's record,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] or the computers, the, the big advent of that, I believe, because it, they can all hold such large data bases on anybody that all you have to do is touch a button and it appears
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] in front of them, and you don't have to, I, I know the government sells information to private companies about individuals or families.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] That's no secret, and it shouldn't be that way I don't think.
[speaker002:] Yeah, I don't, I don't think that's, that's quite right either.
[speaker001:] I mean it's not really government for the people and by the people, I'll tell you that.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] So,
[speaker002:] Hum, what do you think could be done about it?
[speaker001:] Uh, the only way it can change is, um, if, if everybody bands together. It's just like we need to get rid of these clowns that's serving in the office.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] The only thing really that can be changed is for us to, everybody to say, we've had enough of you, out you go. But, uh, I don't see anything like that to occur unless everybody bands together to do that.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] It has to be one common ideal goal for that to be done. Um, I don't know, it's, it's still a, a free, I suppose, country insofar as we're, we're able to obtain information. And I wouldn't be for total banning of, uh, all information or, it's mostly the private information that we're all concerned about. But it's, it's hard to define
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] uh, a lot of those boundaries.
[speaker002:] It really is. It's something that, something that I've just had a, a dealing with is like a credit bureau.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Well, they take, they take my name, which is a very common name, and my last name is even more common
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and they [talking] [women's voices] they check that name against, uh, their list and they find several. And without even bothering to try to match up any other information at all, they just report everything under that name.
[speaker001:] So you've received a lot of, uh, flack?
[speaker002:] They don't, they don't even check my Social Security number.
[speaker001:] Um.
[speaker002:] And companies are paying them good money to report accurately, and they're not, they're so lazy. They're just not doing it. I mean they just find your name and they match it up.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] You know, and that just drives me crazy because they're, and then they want, then, you know, to get it removed they say, well, you know, you have to write this, write this long detailed letter and everything like that to them, you know, and then it takes three weeks and all. And I'm like, baloney.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] You messed it up, you fix it.
[speaker001:] Is that usually what you tell them in the letter?
[speaker002:] No, what I've taken to doing lately is calling the company that they report
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] like, uh, uh, recently I was reported as having J C Penney accounts and I don't. So I called J C Penney and I said, uh, I just wanted to let you know that the credit agency you're using is incorrectly reporting the information that you're providing to them. And they say, uh-huh, because they really don't want to pay for a service that's not being done properly either.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] So then they can call the credit bureau and say, hey, you know, we're paying you good money to report this properly and you're not doing your job.
[speaker001:] Good idea.
[speaker002:] So that's what I've taken to doing lately, and it seems to work pretty well so far.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Well, that's good. Uh, any other problems?
[speaker002:] Not that I can think of.
[speaker001:] Yeah, [LAUGHTER] I, I guess I've just about run out of,
[speaker002:] Yeah [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] I, I can probably go on, but it's, it's, uh, I'm clouding up right now.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah, I probably better let you get back to work.
[speaker001:] Well, it's nice talking to you.
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] Maybe again.
[speaker002:] All rightie.
[speaker001:] Bye-bye.
[speaker002:] Bye-bye.