Lies, Misinformation, Half-truths, and Sensationalism

We recently received an email from a very loyal subscriber who is very interested in computers and in getting information she can use to keep herself safe on the Internet and to keep her computer running well. And we think a lot of you fit into that category, and we also commend all of you seeking to improve your computer skills by subscribing to our newsletter and other similar newsletters.

The email we received was inquiring about a service being purported by one of those tech writers who has a newsletter supposedly to help people stay safe and to help people keep their computer safe and running well. But this particular person violates his readers’ trust quite often. He seems to overly indulge in half-truths and outright prevarication – or so it seems. Maybe her really doesn’t have a clue about what he is talking about. Or maybe he’s so desperate to promote his newsletter and gain new subscribers that he resorts to sensationalism.

It’s too bad. We know many of you trust his person and often follow his advice. And many times he does pass along some decent suggestions and tips, but many times he resorts to this type of yellow journalism – poorly researched and smacking of sensationalism.

He’s the guy that recommended Microsoft Security Essentials long after everyone else wrote it off as worthless – us being among the first to blow the whistle on MSE and warn people against it. Up until a few months ago was telling his readers it was the best free anti-virus available. His contrary views may well have been an attempt to stand out from the majority bring new readers into the fold. Either that or he just plain didn’t do any research at all and posted the article out of ignorance.

We’re not going to name this person and the reason for this article is not to attack him – but rather to give you another example of why it is so difficult to get the truth on the Internet. To give you another example of how much misinformation there is out there. The newsletter we refer to is a very popular one and one that many people trust. And we don’t know if the writer is intentionally publishing misinformation or if he really believes what he’s writing – but he’s causing confusion by publishing misleading articles and recommending useless software.

OK enough rambling. The letter from the reader that provided this rant was asking us about a program the tech newsletter to which this article refers, recommended. It was a program that was supposed to keep “apps” from accessing your personal information. It sounds great and if it were true, we’d be recommending it too. But it’s smoke and mirrors… and we’ll tell you why.

Nothing you install is going to keep apps from accessing your personal information. Nothing you can install is going to remove your personal information from the Web – not even the companies that promise to wipe all your information from the Web for a fee.

What this company promises is a smoke screen and does not prevent anything from accessing your personal information, becaues your personal information is out there for anyone who wants it if you put it out there in the first place.

Here’s an excerpt from this company’s Web site:

In these times, personal data is a currency. Without users, platforms are irrelevant. We need each other for this ecosystem to work. The MyPermissions suite of tools, paired with our Trust Certification program, are solutions that take us all into the future working together to make the internet a safe and secure place for us all.

They also offer to certify Web sites. We don’t know if they charge for that or not but probably and probably anyone with the money will be “certified”. The reason we can’t tell you any more about their certification program is because the link led to a page that didn’t work.

OK we kind of gave away the name of the site there, but we don’t want to make an issue of it because we sure do not want to drive traffic to that site – as we don’t like misleading anyone. But the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, USA Today and others hopped on the bandwagon too, increasing the amount of misinformation on the Internet. It’s no wonder the truth on the Internet is so hard to find.

No program, no toolbar, no anything is going to keep you personal info from being accessed.

The only way to prevent Web sites, apps, stores, credit card companies, etc. is to limit where your share your personal information. if you put your real name and address on Facebook, for example, good luck. Facebook privacy is non-existant as everything you’ve ever published on Facebook is there for the picking for anyone who knows how to pick it.

And we’re not picking on Facebook, but Facebook requires users to use their real names. Of course, they really can’t tell if you do or not, so it would be better if no one did, but of course almost everyone does because the point – I think of Facebook – is to connect with friends and family. If you’re name is Rube Goldberg and you create a Facebook profile with the name of Harold Jones, it’s very unlikely any of your friends are going to find you on Facebook, unless you tell them you’re on Facebook as Harold Jones, which opens up another can of worms.

Once your personal information is out there in cyberspace no applications or browser toolbar or Web service on God’s green Earth is going to stop something else from accessing it. The only way to keep things from accessing your personal information is to make sure you put no personal information on the Web. Which is quite nearly impossible – if you make online purchases, use social networking or even use a credit care to pay for goods, services or food at your favorite local retailer or restaurant. All those credit card transactions travel to and from on the …. you guessed it… the Internet.

The truth is most of us aren’t going to want to do the things we’d need to do to keep our personal information to ourselves. Would you give up the convenience of buying online? Would you shred your credit cards and pay for everything with cash? But wait – if you decide to give all those things up, including your social networking profile, good luck. Your personal information is on the Internet forever and ever – and there’s not a thing you can do about regardless of what anyone tells you.

And so what happens when someone accesses your personal information – your name, location, etc? Well you’re going to see more ads, and your going to see ads targeted to your personal likes and your location. But it’s very highly unlikely that anything terrible is going to happen to you because you bought a LED TV on Amazon.com.

The truth is the truth and on the Internet the truth is very hard to find. Helping you find the truth on the Internet is part of what we are all about.