Participants: Cordell Thomas
Series Code: TITTB
Program Code: TITTB000037
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00:01 On Take It To The Bank,
00:02 you'll find ways to get out of debt... 00:09 solve your credit card problems, 00:14 how to make and stick with the budget, 00:19 simple ways to save... 00:24 buying or selling a home 00:26 and many more financial matters on Take It To The Bank. 00:31 Hi. My name is Cordell Thomas. 00:32 And welcome to Take It To The Bank. 00:34 And we are gonna talk about something, 00:35 I think it's very important. 00:37 And I think that you should be aware of. 00:39 Did you know that you're a target 00:42 that your information is at risk? 00:44 Did you know every time you go online 00:46 there are things that happen 00:48 that, take your data, take your information 00:51 and it's used as a tool 00:54 that is retailed off to many different organizations 00:56 that want to buy information about you, 00:58 your purchase patterns or what you do, 01:00 where you go on the net, 01:01 what or where you like to purchase your things? 01:04 Did you know 01:06 that information you provide in a warranty card 01:08 is not necessary 01:09 because most items that you purchase 01:11 already come with the warranty included. 01:14 People are gonna ask you, 01:16 retailers and our corporations are gonna ask you 01:19 for your personal information 01:21 so that they can gain access to your information about you. 01:25 And many people don't think of it that way 01:27 and as we talk today about consumer privacy, 01:30 I hope this provides some type of interest to you 01:33 because did you know 01:35 that your bank records are supposed to be private? 01:39 But under federal law 01:40 your bank can sell your account information 01:43 including your bank balances unless you opt out. 01:47 So when we're talking about consumer privacy today, 01:50 it's all about the opt out. 01:52 And I hope that's what you take away from this. 01:54 We're gonna have a top ten things 01:56 you can opt out from 01:58 that can help prevent people from accessing your data. 02:02 But things have changed 02:03 quite, quite a bit over the past few years. 02:06 I can remember the time 02:07 that I used to drive a car and we didn't have cell phones. 02:09 Can you remember that day, 02:11 we could drive and we'd use the call boxes 02:14 or those, those payphones along the way 02:18 if you needed to contact anyone? 02:19 And I remember the first cell phone 02:21 that we used to test out at the automotive organization 02:24 that I worked at. 02:25 And they were the size of big purses 02:28 you know, big bags on the side you'd hang over your shoulder 02:31 and you'd be like the size of big telephone. 02:35 It's quite interesting because that was a thing. 02:37 That was everything but the cell phone at that time 02:42 couldn't do anything but call. 02:44 And it was really expensive. 02:46 And it was at the time 02:47 that they were setting up the cell towers 02:49 all over the United States. 02:50 But it was a next big thing in telecommunication 02:53 so that you could go anywhere that you wanted to. 02:57 Well, what has happened since that point in time 02:59 and I don't date myself but that was back in, 03:02 I believe it was 1989, 1990. 03:06 And the overall process 03:08 that they used since that point in time 03:11 was to give you more and more bells and whistles 03:14 that you could acquire as you moved up the chain 03:18 of buying the next generation cell phone. 03:21 Now cell phones have changed 03:23 because now they consider them, we call them smartphones. 03:27 What's the smartphone? 03:29 Well, smartphone has a lot 03:30 of applications available to them 03:32 that weren't necessarily available with the cell phone. 03:36 You know it was quite interesting 03:38 as you run into people on a day to day basis 03:39 you see those 03:40 that are still comfortable with their cell phones 03:42 because they believe inherently 03:44 that the cell phone is really only to make calls. 03:48 And when you think of it from that standpoint, 03:49 then you think differently 03:51 about a-- what a smartphone actually is. 03:54 Because a smartphone 03:55 is probably just like a computer 03:59 that's really what it is. 04:01 A computer in miniature 04:02 and so all of these different forms of technology 04:06 has taken the world by storm 04:08 and you and I have really bought in into it 04:11 because not only do many of us have the smartphone, 04:14 we also have the I-- the tablet 04:17 and then we go to the tablet mini 04:19 and we-- look at different forms and sizes 04:22 of that same type of technology 04:24 and we use it in so many dramatic ways. 04:27 But what has changed, 04:28 what is the thing that has changed 04:30 all of the scenarios that we've talked about? 04:33 Because when you look at technology, 04:36 we think technology is there to benefit us. 04:39 I'm gonna give you an insight. 04:41 Companies look to give you something 04:44 that you believe will benefit you 04:47 but in the big scheme of things, 04:51 the companies are looking for the benefit for themselves. 04:55 So the benefit is not only revenue based, what's revenue? 04:59 Well, it's income based. 05:00 You pay for one of those smartphones, 05:02 it adds revenue to their bottom line 05:05 or income to their bottom line. 05:08 And then you take-- talk about the smartphones 05:10 because you not buy the smartphone, 05:13 but you also have to pay a monthly fee 05:15 to use that smartphone. 05:17 And the costs have comedown dramatically. 05:20 And so makeup difference 05:22 in their income on a yearly basis, 05:25 they've added on different features 05:27 that you're going to pay for. 05:29 So texting and so sending personal information, 05:33 sending tweets and all of those type of things 05:36 are different forms of communicating 05:39 that we have gotten involved in. 05:41 But there is also a negative side 05:44 to this type of technology. 05:46 So you probably, 05:50 as an individual and as a consumer, 05:52 you have several different pieces of information. 05:55 You have information 05:58 that gives access to an email address, 06:01 so you have an email address. 06:02 You also have a social network account. 06:05 It could be a variety of them, a professional social network 06:08 or just a connecting social network 06:11 to your friends and your family. 06:14 The big thing that I want to make you aware of though is 06:16 in reference to all of these connections, 06:18 there are things that you're allowing 06:21 these organizations to do 06:22 with your information and with your data. 06:25 So it's not just about 06:27 going in and buying some piece of technology 06:29 and you walk to the check outline, 06:31 you buy, you get home 06:32 you take it out and you want to use it 06:34 but outfalls this warranty card and they ask you to fill it out 06:38 because if you don't, 06:40 we won't have information enough 06:42 to track your equipment and give you the warranty 06:45 in case that item breaks. 06:49 Now look, I'm not here to tell you what to do 06:52 but I just want to give you some insight 06:54 as to what's going on 06:56 in reference to your specific privacy 06:59 because there is nothing private anymore, 07:01 this facial recognition thing 07:04 is all about recognizing how you look, 07:07 who you are, so that in any type of context 07:11 you can be located and you are found. 07:14 Your location services, you can take a picture 07:17 and you can, it can be known 07:20 where that picture was taken on a global basis 07:23 and it's noted in your cell phone. 07:25 When you go to your computer 07:29 and try to sink your smartphone up to the computer 07:33 that data that you have stored in your smartphone 07:39 is now uploaded and saved in a different location. 07:42 They have those details about you. 07:45 For example, 07:46 a statistic that was just made, I was made aware of is 07:50 ten percent of all digital pictures 07:55 that were ever taken, 07:58 were taken last year. 08:00 Now that gives you pause. 08:02 It should because we've had cameras 08:05 around for close to 200 years. 08:08 But consider the fact 08:09 that ten percent of all of those pictures ever taken, 08:12 were taken last year alone. 08:14 And then you begin the process of asking that question is 08:16 how do they know that? 08:18 They have to be keeping tract someway. 08:20 But some of us don't think about it 08:21 because we have the service 08:23 and then we have the ability 08:24 to do what we want to do with that technology 08:27 not thinking that there are other elements 08:31 that support the need for the technology. 08:33 So it tracks how you look, 08:35 where you go on your computer, 08:39 it tracks where you go online, what you like, 08:43 your purchase habits, 08:45 and then of course, you have the capacity to be, 08:50 to be advertised to directly based on your needs 08:52 and what you specifically like to purchase. 08:55 So I was kind of surprise when I go to specific website 08:58 and do certain things and I'm searching kind of 09:01 different areas that I'd like to research 09:04 on behalf of even this specific show. 09:07 And when I go to that website 09:09 now all of a sudden I get books on finance. 09:13 I get information 09:15 on how you can handle your money better. 09:17 I get information on some of the top things 09:21 that you can do to better yourself 09:24 from a financial standpoint. 09:25 So this comes into me 09:27 because they think I am interested 09:29 in those elements called finance. 09:31 And so now I know 09:33 that my information is not private. 09:35 And I think that you all should be well aware of it 09:37 and concerned about the privacy issues 09:40 that are related to technology as a whole. 09:49 So then we look at 09:50 many different aspects of this technology 09:53 as-- and I mentioned 09:54 the issue of your cell phone or your email. 09:59 In your email alone, 10:00 now you have to worry about phishing, 10:03 what is phishing? 10:04 Well, if you go fishing, physically go fishing, 10:07 it's a matter of throwing out a line 10:08 and hoping to lure someone to it. 10:11 That's as same as what fishing is. 10:12 It spelled a little differently, 10:14 P-H-I-S-H-I-N-G. 10:17 And then you begin to understand 10:19 that they're trying to lure you to click on something. 10:22 And now we live in whole different world 10:25 because you can click on something 10:26 and automatically download something to your computer, 10:29 and in that computer, 10:31 you can have some kind of virus evolved. 10:34 So if you think about a virus, 10:36 I would give you the equation that says, a virus is a virus. 10:41 I consider virus something I don't want 10:43 because it can make you sick, 10:45 the same as the virus in the computer. 10:48 It makes it sick, it ties it up, 10:50 it also plans certain things there 10:52 that will expose specific personal information of yours. 10:56 It's surprising what people will put 10:59 on their social network pages. 11:01 It reveals a lot of information about it 11:04 and that you don't realize 11:06 that many people are watching those sites 11:08 because they can find your front door 11:10 if they want to. 11:12 They can use certain apps and technology 11:14 to come right into where you live 11:17 and many people are willing to put in personal information 11:22 on their sites that tell about their birthday. 11:26 What are certain criminals looking for? 11:28 Your birthday, so they can put together profile about you. 11:31 And then of course 11:33 on, at the onset of some of these social networks, 11:35 you have people updating you on an hourly basis. 11:38 Tweets that go out every hour or every 15 minutes 11:41 about I'm drinking my orange juice. 11:43 I'm eating my breakfast, I'm going to work. 11:46 And then the one thing they gets me 11:48 is that them, people, 11:50 some people are going to tell other individuals, 11:54 I'm going on vacation, I'm going to be gone 11:57 for the next two and half weeks. 11:59 What does that do to your privacy? 12:01 And when someone knows where you're located 12:04 and the fact that you have your address 12:06 on these social sites, 12:08 people can find you, can find your home 12:10 and can go and take care of 12:12 whatever criminal business they would like to 12:14 because you're not there 12:16 and you've told everyone that you wouldn't be there. 12:19 So there are things that you should be aware of 12:21 and you should think of very seriously 12:23 as you take a look at these things called, 12:26 things called technology and your privacy. 12:31 Now what's also a part of, of emails, phishing 12:35 because they try to lure you to click on the link, 12:38 you also have spam email 12:40 that was a big, big thing and I'm glad that certain, 12:42 certain rules have come into play 12:44 that engage these organizations 12:46 and many of them that have spam 12:48 hundreds of thousands people have been found at fault 12:51 and they've been penalized for what they've done. 12:54 In email, there are other issues to contend with. 12:58 For example, 13:00 when you look at spyware 13:01 that can be put onto your system, 13:04 and people can find information out about you 13:07 because it has been put in your computer system 13:10 and its only objective, 13:12 it's programmed to get information 13:16 from you and on you. 13:20 What does it do though? 13:21 What does this information do? 13:22 It provides any type of criminal 13:25 the opportunity to create a profile about you. 13:28 It creates an opportunity to access your information. 13:32 It creates an opportunity 13:34 for someone to access your funds. 13:36 You work hard for it, 13:37 you put it away and if you are as, I hope you are 13:41 an individual that saves, meticulously plans his day, 13:45 that plans his budget, 13:46 plans what they do with their time, 13:48 I would tell you 13:50 and hope that you would be the type of individual, 13:52 then think very carefully 13:54 about who has access to your information. 13:58 So there are about ten items I would like to share with you, 14:02 that would provide you 14:04 a added sense of hopefully a little security 14:07 in reference to holding onto your private data 14:10 instead of having everyone made aware of what you do. 14:16 Number one would be opting out 14:20 of prescreened offers of credit. 14:22 You can go to opt out prescreened.com 14:25 and you will have the opportunity 14:26 to take your name and or address 14:29 and you can make a request to stop receiving 14:31 any of these annoying credit and or insurance offers. 14:35 That's a very key for two reasons 14:36 because when you receive these in your mailbox, 14:39 a lot of crime happens 14:40 when people will go by mailboxes 14:42 and take these offers out. 14:44 If you're pre-qualified for a credit card, 14:47 then somebody else now has their pre-qualification 14:50 and creates the opportunity for fraud. 14:52 I've seen it happened, 14:53 I've gotten calls at times about what do I do, 14:55 what are my next steps, 14:57 how do I handle someone trying to steal my identity 15:01 and how do I get it back and fix the problem. 15:04 If you have to fix a problem that's already occurred, 15:07 it creates that much more havoc 15:09 and, and, and problems in your life. 15:13 So take a step to-- and if in fact, 15:15 your mailbox is not secure, 15:17 it's open where someone can just walk and open it 15:21 and take whatever is out, 15:22 you might think differently 15:23 about how you have your mailbox system setup. 15:26 We have locks on ours right now on our cul-de-sac 15:29 and it's beneficial from standpoint. 15:32 So I know that when the mail person 15:35 puts it in the mailbox, 15:37 it will pretty much be secure until I take it out. 15:40 Second one would be, 15:42 stop your phone records from being sold. 15:44 Did you know that your phone records are sold? 15:48 Call your landline company or your wireless phone company 15:51 and request to opt out of CPNI, 15:56 CPNI is your call records information. 15:59 Most telephone companies sell this data. 16:04 And you have to opt out 16:07 because you're automatically in the program 16:10 and they use it to sell and to gain revenue from it. 16:15 A lot of other things that are there, 16:17 the number three would be, 16:18 keep your banking account records private. 16:21 Under federal law, 16:22 your bank can sell your bank account information, 16:25 did you know that? 16:27 People don't realize that 16:28 but they are given the right to sell that data 16:31 as a matter of gaining access to data 16:34 about your specific demographic. 16:36 They know specific items. 16:38 Now they can sell information including bank balances, 16:42 of course, they are regulations to that 16:44 because they can't associate with the name 16:46 and a social security number and that type of thing. 16:49 But your information now goes out 16:50 and it's accumulated in a database 16:52 where they now can program to gain access to information 16:55 and they say, the average bank balance of an individual 17:00 that makes 35 to $40,000 a year 17:03 between ages of 40 to 60 years of age is this number. 17:08 And it's a fantastic bit of information 17:10 because they can find in tune, 17:12 their products and services as a bank to you 17:15 but now other people now have access to it 17:18 and they can say okay, 17:20 a 45 year old individual who makes this amount of money 17:23 typically will have this amount of money 17:24 saved in a bank account. 17:26 And if he has this amount of out money, 17:27 he is a pretty much good target to go after 17:30 so that-- and you begin to understand now 17:33 the full weight and capacity 17:35 and power of any type of organization 17:38 that has access to your banking information. 17:43 Now so number three on list 17:45 will be keeping your bank records private. 17:49 Get free credit monitoring. 17:51 That's offered free. 17:52 Free credit monitoring, you can actually, 17:56 there are three different agencies 17:57 that offer credit monitoring. 17:59 You can get it once every year for free. 18:02 So what I would recommend is 18:05 every four months go and request 18:07 your free credit report from that one agency 18:11 and then maybe after four, another four months 18:13 get it from second agency 18:14 and after four months get it from the third agency. 18:17 You get that for free 18:19 and you can do it by calling a specific 877 number 18:22 or going to your, 18:25 URL the annualcreditreport.com. 18:30 URL is pretty much just a website name 18:33 that you can go to, 18:34 to access that free credit report 18:36 that you will need. 18:38 Number five on the list 18:40 is considered a Do Not Call Registry. 18:45 This is something I think we should all be excited about 18:49 because we all know 18:51 the privacy issues involved with that. 18:53 I know at home when you can, 18:55 you're sitting down for dinner with your family 18:58 and someone calls at a specific time 19:01 to ask you to donate to give to be a part of whatever. 19:05 One of the things that are really annoying is, 19:07 we need to begin to speak out and vocalize our concerns 19:12 about even our elected officials. 19:14 When these election cycles come up, 19:16 we are inundated with all of these calls 19:18 by our senators and our congressmen 19:22 to influence you to vote a certain way. 19:24 And they shouldn't be able to do that type of thing. 19:28 But they do, as do many other organizations. 19:30 So by calling the Do Not Call Registry, 19:34 and enrolling your telephone number, 19:36 then, both your landline as well as wireless, 19:40 of federal trade commission, anti-telemarketing list 19:44 will add you to the list 19:46 so that you will not receive those calls. 19:49 That's critical and I really like that opportunity 19:53 because I don't like those calls. 19:55 I just hang up. 19:56 As soon as I pick up and I hear, 19:58 it's one of those robocalls calls 19:59 or the like, yeah, anyway. 20:01 We'll go on from there. 20:02 Number six 20:04 is, safeguard your social security number. 20:06 Safeguarding your social security is critical. 20:11 When we talk about items to carry with you, 20:15 and or items not to carry with you, 20:18 I would put the social security card 20:20 as an item not to carry with you. 20:23 I would memorize a number if you have to 20:25 but keep that card in a lockbox. 20:28 So no one can get access to it. 20:31 Put it in a private file 20:32 because if someone gains access to that number, 20:36 you have a major problem. 20:37 It's critical for many of the private databases 20:40 that are out there about medical records 20:43 and many other things 20:44 and that's how banks to use to identify you 20:46 in case you don't remember your account number. 20:49 So when you sit there 20:50 and think about the ramifications 20:52 of someone utilizing that social security number, 20:55 I say, put it in a safe place, 20:57 memorize the number and leave it there 20:59 unless you actually need it 21:01 for some form of actual employment 21:05 as well as or tax issue. 21:07 But lock that social security card away 21:13 and keep it in the safe place. 21:16 Did you know 21:18 that student enrollment profiling is out there? 21:20 Your children's schools can sell personal information. 21:25 And they can sell it to marketers 21:29 and as well as recruiters. 21:32 Why would recruiter want it? 21:33 Well, they're looking for good students to go after 21:37 and recruit for their specific purposes of their school. 21:41 They're also individuals that would like to just get it 21:45 to have information about performance 21:47 and other information of students 21:49 as a group or even individual performance 21:52 based on an age demographic. 21:54 Federal law allows you 21:56 to opt out of this type of information and sell. 22:00 It's critical that we consider these type of things 22:04 because without understanding 22:07 that you have to take an action, 22:09 it creates more of a problem for you than anything else. 22:14 I'm gonna take a moment and actually talk about 22:16 some of the social networks that are out there. 22:19 And you're seeing a lot of information 22:21 going back in the internet 22:23 about some of these privacy issues that you see. 22:26 And in many of them, 22:27 you need to take physical action 22:29 and go online and go to those social networks 22:32 and actually make sure you have your privacy settings 22:35 set to the right setting. 22:38 I only have friends 22:39 and or friends of friends in certain situations 22:42 but for the majority of things I just share with friends. 22:46 And that's really it. 22:48 I try to keep it as, as such 22:50 so that I don't have to deal with 22:53 not knowing where my information is. 22:55 And if consider the friends that I have trustworthy, 22:57 I know that they're not taking images 22:59 that I have and family pictures 23:01 and sending them in all over the place. 23:03 So these are things you can do to try to control 23:06 and try to do because I always tell people 23:08 when your information is out there on the internet, 23:10 when it's there, it's gone. 23:12 There is no way for you to retrieve it 23:14 and bring it back in. 23:16 Information on the super highway 23:18 is something that I really ask you to be careful about 23:22 because once you put it out there, it is gone. 23:25 So think twice, think three times 23:28 about what you're saying. 23:29 When I go on a social network and try to give an update, 23:32 I think three or four times, I try to make it positive, 23:36 I try to make it informative and I try to keep it short 23:39 and I don't' spend much time out there 23:42 and I don't say that much. 23:43 I like to watch and see and hear information 23:46 but I don't like to have my information out there 23:48 for anyone to, to look at 23:50 as well as to respond to in many different situations. 23:56 Now we'll go to, number eight 23:58 is where I think we left off, loyalty programs. 24:02 Have you ever heard of loyalty programs? 24:04 These are big, big issues 24:07 when you're looking at information being sent out 24:10 and you are lost. 24:12 When they sign you up for a loyalty program, 24:14 what do they typically ask for? 24:16 They ask for your personal information. 24:18 And when you give your personal information, 24:21 they can now track what you purchase. 24:23 They track what you purchase and guess what, 24:25 they can also send you coupons based on your purchase habits. 24:29 So they're watching it and they're tracking it. 24:31 But for the major issue 24:33 that's involved here is its information. 24:37 It's critical that you understand 24:41 that information is power, information is money. 24:45 And these guys know it, 24:47 they want to make it attractive for you 24:49 to buy into it but you shouldn't do that. 24:52 I would personally never allow, you know what, 24:55 I do have a loyalty program for an automotive retailer 25:00 and they give some pretty good breaks. 25:03 They give some information but I have not had a problem 25:06 of being inundated 25:07 by their advertising organization. 25:10 But then again, I don't know, 25:12 how they're using that information on me. 25:14 I don't know how, who they're selling it too. 25:16 Because they make money from that standpoint 25:19 so I might reassess that one. 25:20 But for the most part, 25:22 any of these programs that offer supermarket 25:25 or other type of loyalty programs, 25:28 it makes it easy for that company 25:30 to sell your information. 25:32 Be loyal to stores without the loyalty cards. 25:36 You don't need to have a loyalty card to go and do, 25:38 and of the things that my wife and I typically do 25:42 is we search some of the newspaper 25:45 for the best deals during the week. 25:47 So we have a-- we know, 25:48 when a certain a grocer 25:50 will have these type of things on sale 25:53 and we know 25:54 where they'll have these other type of things on sale. 25:56 So we will spend sometime 25:58 or we drive to two or three different locations 26:00 to make our purchases but guess what, 26:01 we save a lot of money, 26:03 we haven't been signed up for any loyalty program, 26:05 we know our information from that standpoint 26:08 is relatively safe and we get a good deal 26:11 and keep our expenditures 26:14 in grocery areas under that number. 26:17 Number nine, is secure your accounts. 26:21 Secure those accounts. 26:22 So if you have a password, 26:25 if you have not passworded your smartphone, 26:28 or if haven't put a password on many of your bank accounts, 26:32 they pretty much require that now, 26:34 but I would ask that you secure all of your accounts, 26:38 banking, telephone, utilities, 26:41 it's essential that you do that. 26:44 And number ten on the list 26:46 is, think about privacy all the time. 26:52 It's important that you don't give out 26:54 your private information to anyone 26:56 that gives you a call. 26:58 Don't give out your information online. 27:00 If you don't know 27:02 who you're sending information to, don't. 27:04 Keep your information as private as you possibly can 27:07 and don't share information. 27:09 When you receive an email that doesn't seem appropriate, 27:13 and that's asking for personal information, 27:15 delete the email. 27:16 When you get a warranty card 27:18 or information or asking to sign into, 27:21 some type of, of, of program, don't do it 27:24 because you have to understand, they're taking your information 27:28 and they're using it in creative ways 27:31 to sell to others. 27:33 This thing called consumer privacy is a big item. 27:36 With the proliferation 27:38 of so many different pieces of technology, 27:40 with tablets and smartphones, with online social networks, 27:44 it's not just about the services 27:46 they're providing you, 27:47 it's about the information they're taking from you. 27:51 Look, be smart and you'll Take It To The Bank, 27:55 God bless you. |
Revised 2016-02-11