Consuming

That Darn Mr. Bell...

Back in the day, you would fire up the old TV, adjust the rabbit ears and watch Starsky and Hutch as they battled the evil of the world. I remember how these snitches would head over to a pay phone and call in anonymous tips to further the plot. Of course, “Huggy Bear” would already have most of the scoop, but the fact that you could call up the cops, rat on the scumbags who betrayed you and not be found out, well, that seemed pretty cool. You don’t want to be seen as a rat, but still, you don’t want to let the jerks get away with putting the screws to you. It was a moral dilemma with a solution. Unfortunately, it turns out that it was a false sense of security.

One of the first lessons I learned back in the day, regarding privacy at least, was that “800” numbers behaved differently from other numbers. For decades, it has been the case that whenever you dial a toll-free number, you are giving the receiving company some sensitive information. Nobody knew about it at the time, at least nobody I knew, but when I called my credit card company, I was greeted with a hearty “Hello Mr. Sullivan, how can we help you?”. I was like “How did you know it was me?” That is when I found out about what would later be called “Caller ID”. Your phone number came up on their screen, along with call routing information and a few other tidbits. For some reason, I was panicked about it. It just felt bad to have someone know that it was me calling. I felt like it was an invasion of my privacy, and I was not used to it. She talked me down like I was a guy on a ledge, and assured me that the information was only used to help improve relationships with their customers. Dazed, I hung up the phone and reassessed my level of knowledge. How could I be so naive? Oddly enough, that one incident made me more paranoid and skeptical than I had ever thought I would be. It turns out it was only the tip of the iceberg.

The Downsides Of Credit

You get your first credit card, and of course, you buy a few things with it. That is cool. Most of the places you buy are local, because the car you have, well, let’s just say it needs some repairs. So for the first six months you head over to the mall, buy some music, take out some girls to dinner and try to keep up on your payments. Then, the coolest thing happens, and you and your buds decide to head off for Spring Break to a far away beach. You hop into the VW Bus and head on down to the coast for the weekend, take some new girls out to dinner, and head back home so you all can get to work on Monday so you can fix up your cars.

Monday after work, you are at home watching reruns on the tube, when you get a mysterious phone call. You hope it is one of those girls you have been spending money on, but no, it turns out to be your credit card company. They ask you ever so politely if your card had been lost or stolen. You ask them why they ask, and they say that your card was used in an area you don’t usually charge in, and that it was used to buy items that didn’t fit your established buying pattern. Huh? What? They actually monitor what I buy and where? (note to self - never buy beer with this until you turn 21).

That episode opened my eyes when it came to credit. It turns out that those credit companies share your information with just about any company that asks. I wanted to change jobs, which I ended up doing, but when I was offered the job they said it was contingent on a drug test (I just have that look I guess) and a credit check. Credit check I asked? What for? “Why, to see if you have a stable, trustworthy background.” I was like “You can do that?” and he was like “Oh yes, we would not hire anyone without a credit check first.”

The funny (well, odd) part about this was, I called up the credit company and asked if I could have a copy of my credit report, and they told me no, they could only give it to businesses. Imagine that. I could not get my own information, but my employer could. I’m glad that law has changed. Still, it kind of gives you the creeps, doesn’t it? It is very upsetting that someone can access something so private. They track your buying habits? The boss can check your credit standing? All this came as a pretty rude awakening, but over the last few years, things have gotten a whole lot more complicated. Thanks to advances in technology, people can watch just about everything you do, buy and throw away.