THE ELECTRONIC IDENTITY
                                by
                          Robert Parson

     How many databases are you in?
     In article one, of this magazine, we very briefly touched on
     this matter.  Now we'll examine this more closely.
     Your very own wallet can give you a few clues as to who might
know who you are.
     Pulling out my wallet, I find the obvious examples of where I
may be listed.  Driver's License, Social Security Card, and my
Checking Account number.  (I don't have any credit cards.)
     The Fort Smith (Arkansas) Public Library uses a bar code
scanner to check out books.  My name is in their database.  Where
else can I be found?  Sam's Wholesale Club, Snelling and Snelling
Personnel Agency, Allstate Automobile Insurance, Blue Cross/Blue
Shield Health Insurance, Federal Communications Commission Limited
Broadcast Certificate, AT&T Calling Card, Alfalfa Video, Sci-Fi
Channel Fan Club Membership Card (don't ask about that one).  I
also found a picture of my son, Aaron.  He has a Social Security
number.
     Besides just now discovering I need to clean out my wallet (I
found three old auto insurance cards that need to be thrown out),
I found out that from my wallet alone, I am in the databases of at
least 12 groups.  Every one of them has my name in a computer.
     I'm writing this article at work, instead of doing what I
should be doing.  Looking at the top of my desk (which also
desperately needs to be cleaned), I find I am in the databases of
Financial Services Week, Stanger's Investment Advisor, the
National Association of Investment Clubs, and Fairlane Financial
Services Corporation which is a clearing house for some 10
companies I am licensed with, and I am in their individual
databases as well.
     In addition, my computer has a contact manager (Contact Plus,
for those of you interested.  It's Shareware and I highly
recommend it for people who do sales for a living) with all my
clients and prospects in it.  
     In my desk drawers (more cleaning that needs to be done), I
find a Prodigy handbook, some notes about GEnie and the Dow Jones
News Service, a broker's guide to American Funds, a prospectus for
Phoenix Funds, and a pamphlet from the Franklin Funds.  In the
other drawer are catalogs from DAK, Damark, Computer Direct, The
Software Labs, and the Black Box.
     Because of the barely controlled anarchy I call my workspace,
I'm not even about to go through my file cabinet to find what
other databases I may be listed in.
     Thinking about what I have at home-- my car payment, rent,
electric, cable, phone, several magazine subscriptions, Small
Computer Book Club, mail order catalogs for computers and various
clothing shops, shareware registrations, warranty cards, hospital
and doctor's office statements, tax statements, blahblahblahblah.
The list at home is dizzying.  And I tend to think I keep a fairly
low data profile.
     If you think you are just in three or four databases, you had
better think again.
     Were you visited by someone from Polk's City Directories?
There you are again.  Just from Polk's, I can find out who you
are, your address, phone number, how many people live in your
home, whether you own your home or rent, when you moved there,
even where you work.
     Furthermore, somewhere I have a catalog in which I can order
any type of contact lists for consumers and businesses.  For
consumers, I can order by age, sex, income bracket, zip code, even
hobbies.  I can order business lists by Standard Industry
Classification Codes, region, gross revenue, and in some cases by
sub-classifications (for instance, I can order lists of hospitals
by number of beds and radio stations by AM or FM).
     Just try dropping out of society.  The minute you sign up for
a utility in your new home you can be found by anyone who sets
their mind to it.
     This is the price we pay for convenience.  We want to have
instant access to whatever we wish.  But the other side of the
coin is giving up some privacy about ourselves and our habits.
     Strangely enough that very same loss of privacy also helps us.
When I first started dabbling in computers, I bought a couple
magazines to familiarize myself with them before I got one.  I saw
some ads that interested me so I sent in the consumer information
cards.
     Before I knew it, my mailbox was jammed not only with the
information I had requested, but with unsolicited flyers,
brochures, even demo software.  I learned an awful lot about
computers in a very short period of time.  I still occasionally
get offers from Compuserve, even though I hadn't requested
anything from them in nearly three years.  And Tiger Software is
hot for me to buy an upgrade package for some database program
(Alpha 4, I think), even though I never bought anything from them.
     I learned more about computers by receiving brochures and other 
materials than by any other method.
     Despite the fact it's so extraordinarily easy to be in some 
company's database we should not be overly concerned.  Most companies 
are more interested in having us buy thier product, not in our 
lifestyles.  But we should  be watchful as to how that information is 
used.  Whenever there appears to be an abuse, it should be immediately 
dealt with.

NEXT: TechnoLOGICAL Thoughts

                                  Copyright (C)1992 Robert Parson