PROTECTING YOUR IDENTITY: START WITH THE BASICS

The concept of identity (ID) theft and protection morphs regularly with the rapid evolution of technology. And it can get pretty complex these days. The good news? You don't need to be a technologist to start protecting your information and reducing the risk of identity theft.

Here's some low-tech advice just to get you started on the path toward ID protection and theft prevention. The following 12 tips will help you BUILD A FOUNDATION FOR REDUCING THE RISK OF IDENTITY THEFT.

Although there is much more to learn about this topic, I thought it would be helpful to provide a starting point...from here you can easily continue growing your efforts to protect your identity.

1. Make it very difficult for identity thieves to obtain and piece together your personal information.
2. Limit exposure of your personal information
3. Make "information protection" a habit in your everyday life.

Your personal identity is priceless. There is no such thing as being overly cautious when it comes to protecting it.

1. BURN and/or SHRED ALL SENSITIVE DOCUMENTS ***

a. If you have a wood burning fireplace, burning is preferred for highly sensitive information. After all, it is quite possible to piece together shredded information.

b. If you must shred super sensitive data, try shredding one half of the documentation -to be placed in garbage that same week. And shred the remaining half of the documentation for garbage disposal during a different week. This insures that identity thieves can only access partial information.

c. You could also buy a "cross-cut shredder," which would eliminate the need for two-step shredding of documents

*** Anything with financial and credit info, birth date, social security number, personal health info, passport number, driver's license info, copies of old checks, pay stubs, etc.

2. SHRED ANYTHING THAT INCLUDES WITH YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. In general, feel free to shred unabatedly - and not just highly sensitive information.

3. NEVER PLACE YOUR OUTGOING MAIL IN YOUR MAILBOX WITH A RAISED RED FLAG. This notifies identity thieves that there may be bills and checks in your mailbox.

a. If you use a blue federal mail drop box (rather than going to the Post Office), choose one that is in a well-lit, highly-trafficked area. Identity thieves break into Federal Post Office Boxes on the streets and they are less likely to target well-lit, highly exposed boxes.

4. WITH SCISSORS, CUT PERSONAL CARDS such as old credit cards, health insurance cards, and any other identification cards into many small pieces. Do not shred cards in shredder - they may be easily pieced together

a. Again, distribute pieces among separate garbage bags over different periods of time. This will make it difficult for thieves to piece together your information.

5. DO NOT USE THE SAME PASSWORD for all of your logins/registrations.

a. Don't use your personal information (ie, date of birth, social security #, etc.) as a password.

6. REGULARLY SWAP OUT YOUR CREDIT CARD(S). You don't have to change issuers, just the card numbers. Every time I get a letter from a company stating that their data (which included my personal information) was compromised, I call my credit card company and ask for a new card.

7. REQUEST THAT YOUR NEWLY PRINTED BANK CHECKS BE DELIVERED TO THE ISSUING BANK where you can pick them up), not your home (unless you have a locking mailbox). If the bank says they don't accommodate such requests, then you must insist. Thieves troll mailboxes for credit card offers and blank check deliveries

8. DO NOT STORE SENSITIVE INFORMATION ON YOUR DESKTOP COMPUTER OR LAPTOP. Keep it on a removable external drive. This will nullify hacker attempts.

9. NEVER GIVE UP YOUR BIRTH DATE INFORMATION when you register for access on any website. Possible exceptions include sites that require DOB (date of birth) info for authentication like healthcare insurance websites. Regardless, always try to enter any website with your DOB blank.

a. If you happen upon paper forms and applications or other web registration pages that require birth date information for registration reasons rather than authentication (ie, MySpace, hotmail.com, Gold's gym), then make up a fictional birth date. Be sure to document it somewhere for re-use later if required.

10. If you regularly register with your name / info on many websites, you may CONSIDER DEVELOPING AN ALTERNATIVE FICTIONAL PROFILE complete with a separate spam email account. It all boils down to your level of trust and the degree of your interaction with each particular website. If you are registering for the quick "hit 'n run" on an unfamiliar website, then perhaps the fictional profile would serve you better. Bottom line: The greater the exposure of your personal information, the greater the risk of identity theft. Again, be sure to document your alternate profile somewhere so you can easily call it up when you need it to re-register online.

11. REGULARLY DELETE COOKIES, PASSWORDS, ETC. FROM YOUR COMPUTER'S CACHE. The value of this action, which also reduces spyware, is underestimated.

12. QUESTION ANYONE WHO ASKS FOR YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER (SS#). You have the right to ask why they need it and how they are going to use it. You can also politely decline their request. See what they say. You will be surprised. At that point, you can decide - based on their response - whether or not you even need to provide the SS#. Once, a masseuse asked for my social security number...hello?!

1. The less your information is out there, the less chance there is that your identity will be stolen.

2. The harder you make it for identity thieves to "piece together" your information, the less likely it is that your identity will be stolen.

3. The more you incorporate identity protection into your everyday habits, the less risk there will be for losing your identity.

Protecting our personal identity should really become a part of our everyday consciousness. The effort should be as automatic as getting dressed in the morning. Always question why anyone would need your personal information and remember that social engineering techniques can be both verbal and web-based. Limit exposure to your personal information in the web world as well as the brick and mortar world. Don't share sensitive information in blogs or on social networking sites.

If you have to choose between two retailers: one is reputable and already has your personal info, but costs a few dollars more and the other is not well known and doesn't "yet" have your personal info but costs a few dollars less...who will you choose? In your decision-making, please also consider the cost of losing your personal identity.

I know that this all sounds like a ton of work, but it really isn't...especially considering the potential consequences of doing nothing.