Sandra Raby, M.Ed. and Lisa Ruggeri, MAOM
Have you ever run yourself on the Internet, either in a search engine or a database, and had all your personal identifying information come up. Information that may show up could include your name, home address, home phone number, birth date and social security number. Did you ever wonder how that information got there and why they have your date of birth and social security number?
Did you know there are things you do on a daily basis that puts your personal identifying information into publicly available information sources? It could be something as simple as ordering pizza and having it delivered to your house, filling out a credit application or having your creditor sell your personal information.
This book will explain the difference between public record and publicly available information. It will also explain the ways your information gets released and how it ends up on the Internet. This is an information sharing industry that most people are not even aware exists.
There are steps, described as the protection process, which can be taken to help you start protecting your personal identifying information from being released. There may be times when you can not stop your information from being released, but there are things you can do to control what information is released.
Anyone who has a desire to protect their personal identifying information and their family members’ information from being released and made available on the Internet will benefit from learning about the protection process. This step by step guide was created with two objectives in mind; the first, heightening your awareness on the sale and release of your personal identifying information and the second, providing you with strategies you can implement to start protecting yourself and your family.
Sandra Raby has worked as a police officer for 23 years. She has spent time in a variety of assignments, both as an officer and as a supervisor. Sandra is currently working as the administrative sergeant in the Police Chief’s office and has been in this position for six years. With this assignment, she is her department’s liaison to the Superior Court for the Peace Officer Confidentiality Program. Sandra has earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Justice Studies and her Masters Degree in Education Counseling with an emphasis on Human Relations.
Lisa Ruggeri has worked as a Criminal Intelligence Analyst in law enforcement for 15 years. During her career, she has become an expert in researching and locating individuals and suspects for the detectives she works with. Lisa has been teaching law enforcement officers in a variety of topics over the past 6 years. Lisa has earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Management and her Masters Degree in Organizational Management.
Sandra and Lisa have a passion for teaching and created a training class that they have presented to their police department’s officers. Experiencing first hand the problem the release of personal identifying information has created and seeing the officers’ strong desire to want to protect themselves and their families, Sandra and Lisa decided to write this book.
The information presented in his book was originally intended for law enforcement officers. But, the more Sandra and Lisa researched this topic and taught their protection process, the more apparent it became to them that any one could benefit from this information. Once they had this realization, the target audience for this book became the general population. Sandra and Lisa’s passion will always be with law enforcement and getting the word out about their protection process to every officer across the country. They also do hope, however, that anyone will be able to take this information and apply it in their life to protect their personal identifying information.
PART I: HOW AND WHY PERSONAL INFORMATION IS RELEASED INTO PUBLIC RECORD.
Introduction
This book has been designed so that each chapter gradually builds on the previous chapters. There is so much to learn and understand about what is going on in the realm of public record that it is best if we take it one step at a time. Everyone needs to understand what is public record, how and why our personal identifying information is getting out in public record, who is sharing, selling, and releasing our personal identifying information, who is buying it, the laws regarding this type of activity, the steps we, as consumers, can take to protect ourselves and control what information is being released, what role the Internet is playing in the availability of public record, and what steps can be taken to protect ourselves from identity theft.
Rather than focusing only on identity theft, the main focus of this book will be on preventing our personal identifying information from being shared, sold and released, along with learning about the steps we can take to stop this activity. Protecting our personal information and identity theft do go hand in hand, however, if you take our advice and implement the strategies we suggest on how to protect your personal information, the probability of becoming an identity theft victim will be greatly reduced. The chances of becoming a victim will never completely be eliminated, but at least you will be on top of the situation which will enable you to recognize any discrepancies early on, allowing you to put a stop to this illegal activity before it completely takes over your entire life.
In addition to the many strategies we will suggest, we have also included a check list at the end of the book that will assist you with implementing our suggestions. Utilizing this check list will make it easier for you to start the process of protecting your personal information.
