Consumer Tips

Health Information Exchanges in California

WPF's new interactive map identifies Health Information Exchanges in California. A Health Information Exchange, or HIE, is technology that enables the electronic movement of health-related information among health care providers and others. HIEs are an increasingly popular way for hospitals, pharmacies, labs, and emergency room physicians to share patient information. HIEs can exchange records across one hospital, across multiple hospitals in a region, or across a whole state. If your health information is being shared through an HIE, your lab test results, medications, medical history, or other clinical information related to your health care may be included in the sharing. See more about HIEs and our California HIE Map here.

WPF Republishes Landmark Medical ID Theft Tips and FAQ for Consumers

Medical ID Theft -- WPF has completely updated its landmark medical identity theft tips and advice for patients and consumers. "The new FAQcontains detailed advice for anyone who is a victim of medical ID theft, or is worried about becoming one," says Pam Dixon. "The FAQ and our shorter consumer tips have been updated to reflect our most recent research." In 2006, WPF published the first known report on medical ID theft and coined the term. Since then, WPF has been in the forefront of researching this crime and working to assist victims and those working with victims

Consumer Tip: Opt out of automatic Facebook facial recognition

Privacy tip -- If you have a Facebook account and if you have ever been tagged in a photo of yourself on Facebook, we want to alert you to an important Facebook setting. Unless you have proactively changed your privacy settings, Facebook will use facial recognition tools to compare photos and make tag suggestions. When new photos that look like you have been uploaded, Facebook will suggest tags with your name. To opt out of this, in Facebook go to Account, then choose Privacy Settings from the drop down menu. Click the Customize Settings link, and then scroll down and look for the Suggest Photos of Me to Friends line. To opt out, click Edit Settings, then choose Disable on the drop down menu.

Consumer Tips: Is Your iPhone or iPad taking a bite out of your privacy?

If the devices are left with older versions of the iOS4 software, the data stored on the iPhones and iPads will be unencrypted and can include latitude, longitude, when the location was visited, for how long, and the data could have been collected for as long as a year. Up to 2 MG of data can be stored, which can be a lot of location data.

Top Ten Opt Out list updated

Opt-out and how-to -- The popular WPF Top Ten Opt Out List has been newly updated. We have added a new section to our list with step by step details on how to opt out of RapLeaf. We encourage consumers to view any of their profiles that exist at RapLeaf and to opt out of RapLeaf permanently. We have also updated the phone numbers and other information on the rest of our opt out list. To see more, visit our Opt Out List.

WPF Resource Page: State Security Freeze Laws and General Information

A credit freeze (sometimes called a security freeze) lets you stop the disclosure of your credit report by a credit bureau. Currently, the three credit bureaus are allowing all consumers nationwide to set a security freeze for a fee. Some states have specific security freeze laws; a list of states with security freeze laws may be found below. However, even if you live in a state without a security freeze law, you can still set a security freeze.

Consumer Tips: Job Searcher's Guide to Online Job Sites

This guide to online job sites is a list of the top job searching sites online. This list gives information about the privacy practices at each site. Because resumes contain such detailed personal and professional information, it is well worth caring about how job search sites handle privacy issues. This guide is updated monthly, and we add new information to the guide monthly.

Job Searcher's Guide to Job Search Sites

Job Search Privacy -- The World Privacy Forum's popular and long-standing Job Searcher's Guide has been completely updated. We have a site-by-site comparison of the privacy practices of online job search sites. This guide was originally posted in 2003, and has been updated regularly. This was a major update of this resource. The World Privacy Forum publishes extensive job search privacy resources in addition to the Guide, including a very popular guide to resume posting privacy.

World Privacy Forum Publishes A Patient’s Guide to HIPAA, First Comprehensive HIPAA Privacy Guide Written Expressly For Patients

“This guide is not just a retread of what HIPAA is and does,” said Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum. “Our guide gives patients practical details and strategies on how they can use the law to protect their privacy and navigate the medical system. Best of all, it is easy to use.”

Consumer Tips: Job Seekers' Guide to Resumes - Twelve Resume Posting Truths

It is important to circulate a resume when looking for work, but these days criminals and identity thieves are all too interested in finding and using resumes for all the wrong reasons. In the information economy, your resume has a “street value.” It's sad to say, but unfortunately your name, home address, telephone number, even your detailed work history can have value to identity thieves and fraudsters. It is also important to protect your resume from people and businesses who want to use it primarily to make a profit instead of primarily to help you find employment.

Job Application Kiosks: Consumer Tips for Using Employment Kiosks and their Related Web sites

Do not submit your SSN or date of birth to a kiosk or a Web site that does not have a privacy policy posted prominently prior to the time this information is requested of you. If you do, you truly lose control of this information. If you have any arrests or suspended convictions in your background, you may want to think twice about agreeing to an “instant” or “national” background check online. Some (but not all) of these national credit checks that are conducted through accessing proprietary databases online pick up and report information that should not be reported, such as suspended convictions.

Consumer Tips: How you can retrieve your federally mandated free credit report

The simplest way of accessing your free credit report is to either call or to mail for the report. Please see the tips below for more information about these ways of accessing your credit report. However, if you do decide to retrieve your free credit report via the Internet at the official www.annualcreditreport.com site, please make sure you go to the correct site. You do not have to pay to receive your free annual credit report. If you are on a site that is asking you to pay for your credit report, double check the spelling of the site, or use the call-in and mail-in methods.

Consumer Tips: The Potential Privacy Risks in Personal Health Records

In PHRs, important information about privacy procedures and policies is contained in the fine print, and the fine print really matters. That’s because some PHRs are covered under HIPAA privacy protections, but many PHRs are not covered under HIPAA privacy protections. Few consumers understand that their health care files are not always protected under HIPAA when their files are in a PHR.

Consumer Fraud Alert: Bogus Job Ads Pose Potential Harm to Consumers

The World Privacy Forum and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse have become aware of a nationwide job scam currently in action. We are advising job seekers to avoid any response to job ads coming from Macrocommerce Intersales and to be aware of the high potential for financial fraud and /or identity theft if they have already responded to job ads from this company.

How to say no to the cookies that track you

Consumer tips on managing cookies -- Some computer cookies are harmless, but others can track your moves across many Web sites, eventually building a detailed history of your preferences. The good news is that you can manage these persistent tracking cookies to some degree. To do this, you need to know how to say no to the third party tracking cookies you don't want while still allowing yourself to say yes to the cookies you do want. There are several ways to do this. One way is to download "opt-out cookies." Another way is to use your browser's cookie management tools to manage your cookies. Another method is to regularly delete unwanted cookies. In some cases, you can stop tracking through account preferences at some web sites.