Privacy and the Internet: Your Information Belongs to You

By Lisette Hilton

Frank Heasley, PhD, one of the pioneers of Web-based job boards, remembers a time when the Internet was a community of technical people who believed in a code of honesty and high ethical standards. It was like a village, where everyone knew everyone and you could share and share alike, leave your door unlocked, and provide refuge and sustenance to neighbors and weary travelers.

But times have changed, says Dr. Heasley, who is President and CEO of MedZilla.com, a leading Internet recruitment and professional community that serves biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and science. ìAll too quickly the net has grown to be a city, where it isn't sufficient just to lock your doors, but you must also bar your windows, and install security systems to protect your personal and business interests from an expanding group of increasingly rapacious and technically adept scoundrels,î he says.

Protection begins at home: install security systems

Even looking at some web sites can install malicious programs on your computer. According to Michele Groutage, MedZillaís director of marketing, the solution to this problem is much like what youíd do to deter a burglary in your home: install a security system. For computers, this ìsystemî includes the use of a more secure web browser, in addition to antivirus software and a good firewall.

Guard your personal information

Serious problems can happen when web sites ask for personal information that should remain confidential.

Just giving your name and email address seems innocent enough, Groutage says. The problem is that people donít often realize that the minute they respond, the Web site begins gathering data on them. If a person registers on a bookstore site, the site can then gather information on the types of books that person reads. Some sites sell that data to other companies who use it for anything ranging from legitimate market research to spam, or worse.

Itís not that basic information hasnít been available in the past, Dr. Heasley says. Itís just that itís so much easier to get and use it on the Internet than from a telephone directory or mailing list.
Problems can become even more pronounced when people purchase things via the Web or post resumes online, says Dr. Heasley. ìInformation, such as oneís social security number, unlisted phone number and passwords, needs to be guarded,î he says.

ìPeople canít just surf the web and assume theyíre safe anymore,î Dr. Heasley says. ìYou have to use common sense. If you came across a similar company in the telephone directory, would you give them the data they're asking for? What about if they called you on the phone during dinner?î

Pirating and selling data has become commonplace, according to Dr. Heasley. Some criminals have even designed bogus Web sites that look legitimate, simply to trick people into revealing sensitive information. As an example, one gang recently used a well known internet auction site name in their web site address, just to make it look like it was affiliated. Then they emailed links to a lot of unsuspecting people and told them to go to their secure site and correct mistakes in their account, which asked about personal information including credit card numbers, social security, passwords, mother's maiden name, bank accounts, etc. ìNow the crooks have this information and thereís not a thing the victims can do about it,î he says.

Even on secure sites, one has to be careful about giving ìrealî data, such as your motherís real maiden name. Anyone can search a personís private information and often find the motherís maiden name. ìWe catch people trying to pirate data far too frequently,î Dr. Heasley says. ìThatís why is it becoming more and more important that people learn how to use the Internet without being bilked out of their privacy.î

The bottom line, Groutage says, is that social security, credit card and bank account information are too personal to release over the World Wide Web. ìKeep that information out of emails (even those to your close contacts) and online resumes.

Deal with Web sites you know you can trust because they have privacy protection and have been around for a while. Call the people running the Web sites and talk with them. Call their clients. Call associations or societies for recommendations.

When applying for jobs online, set up a free email account anonymously. Select a professional email address that makes it harder to trace you, personally, and yet presents you positively. Consider making it something like pharmacist123, rather than LisaSmith or SurferDude.

You might also want to modify your employment history. Rather than stating your current employerís company name, just include an accurate but generic description of their business: ìA worldwide manufacturer of proprietary drugs for chronic diseases.î

If your job title is too specific, you can modify it to reflect what you do in a more generic way.

ìIf my daughter were doing a job search, I would tell her to go to niche job boards that have been named by third party monitoring firms, such as CareerXroads, as reputable,î Dr. Heasley says, and if they asked her to pay for anything, or for her social security number or other sensitive information, I'd advise moving on.



About MedZilla.com
Established in mid 1994, MedZilla is the original web site to serve career and hiring needs for professionals and employers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, science and healthcare. MedZilla databases contain about 10,000 open positions, 11,000 resumes from candidates actively seeking new positions and 38,000 archived resumes. These resources have been characterized as the largest, most comprehensive databases of their kind on the web in the industries served.