USD Magazine, Summer-Fall 1993

I

10 EASY

• Ask the Privacy Rights Clearing– house: Call the PRC's toll-free hot– line, (800) 773-7748, Monday through Friday, l© a.rn. to 3 p.m., if you have a question or problem concerning privacy. (Spanish– speaking staff members are avail– able.) Request a set of the PRC's free fact sheets (available in English and Spanish). Connect with the computer bulletin board to learn about pending state and federal bills. (Editor's Note: The toll-free hotline is available only to calls originating in California. An answering machine will record mes– sages during the "off" hours.) •Cordless and Cellular Phones: Be aware that others can listen to calls you make on cordless (up to one mile away) or cellular (up to 20 miles away) phones. Do not discuss financial information or any other information that you want to remain private, such as dates that you will be out of town, etc. Baby monit0rs, children's walkie-talkies and some home intercom systems can be overheard in the same man– ner as cordless phones.

•Credit Report: Request a copy of your credit report each year to ensure that it is accurate. Of the three major credit bureaus, TRW will give you one free copy per year, and Equifax and TransUnion will charge no more than $8 by Califor– nia law. If you have been denied credit within the last 30 days, the bureau must provide you with a free copy upon request. To find out how to obtain a copy of your report, call TRW at (800) 392-1122, Equifax at (800) 685-1111 and TransUnion at (800) 851-2674. • Employee Monitoring: Know that employers have a right to monitor calls that are made on business phones. If you must ensure the pri– vacy of a personal call, consider using a pay phone. Electronic mail at the workplace also is subject to monitoring. Be aware that even when an e-mail message is deleted, it may still be retained in the sys– tem's memory. Don't play around on e-mail.

WAYS TD

PROTECT

YOUR

PRIVACY