Take care of your personal information

You can never be too careful with your personal information. 

A person who encourages you to divulge personal information online, over the telephone, or via post may not have the best intentions. Therefore, with personal privacy in mind, a sound practice is to authenticate the source that's requesting the information. 

If the source claims to be an agent with the Social Security Administration, contact the number advertised on their official web domain to ask if a representative is trying to contact you. Consequently, you may find out the requesting party isn't who they claim to be.

Another strategy is to question a requesting party's need for information. Essentially, does the requesting party truly need this information? 

For example, while a McDonald's employee provides polite service, what need does he or she have for my Social Security number? Sometimes, organizations collect more information than they need to perform a service; this practice is unlawful in some territories. 

Because aggregate data collection is considered normal, a lot of people feel comfortable disclosing personal information. 

To avoid becoming a victim of fraud, it's best to practice mindfulness when considering who you disclose your data to.

Michael Borchardt-Robertson, Warm Springs, Montana