The Canadian Privacy Law Blog: Developments in privacy law and writings of a Canadian privacy lawyer, containing information related to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (aka PIPEDA) and other Canadian and international laws.
The author of this blog, David T.S. Fraser, is a Canadian privacy lawyer who practices with the firm of McInnes Cooper. He is the author of the Physicians' Privacy Manual. He has a national and international practice advising corporations and individuals on matters related to Canadian privacy laws.
For full contact information and a brief bio, please see David's profile.
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This web site is presented for informational purposes only. These materials do not constitute legal advice and do not create a solicitor-client relationship between you and David T.S. Fraser. If you are seeking specific advice related to Canadian privacy law or PIPEDA, contact the author, David T.S. Fraser.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Over at Schneier on Security, there's been a bit of a discussion in the comments about how to deal with the increasingly reported security incidents involving credit card processors. One commentator suggested a novel approach to protecting his own accounts:
Schneier on Security: Visa and Amex Drop CardSystems:"Me? I request replacement credit and debit card numbers every six months, and watch my account activity carefully."
Interestingly, Dr. Don at Bankrate.com just fielded a question on the practice:
Changing credit card numbers won't help:"Dear Kim,
Your idea about rotating credit card numbers is inventive but it could actually wind up increasing the odds that you find yourself a victim of identity theft or credit card theft. Getting a new credit card number every quarter would mean that you will have credit cards in your mailbox four times a year vs. once every three to four years, and fraud programs that recognize when your spending patterns don't jibe with past purchases aren't going to be effective, because the account won't have a transaction history for comparison.
It's also likely to hurt your credit rating because your credit history will show a series of accounts closed at your request every three months -- unless the series of account numbers is treated as a single account relationship by the credit card provider. For this to happen it would have to be a practice established by the credit card provider in reporting your history to the credit bureaus. It isn't something that you can do on your own...."
Labels: cardsystems, identity theft, information breaches, schneier
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