Global Wandering

We are back from a week in Park City, Utah. It was a delightful trip in that we were at a high enough elevation to avoid the wildfire smoke that is turning the blue skies of the Mountain West into a gray haze. The primary activity in Park City is testing the law of gravity. We conducted our own primary research on the matter by riding the alpine slide, the alpine coaster and the zip line. The empirical results of our tests are that objects, such as ourselves, fall/slide/zip down mountain slopes, often while screaming.

One of the more interesting letters in the pile of mail, magazines and newspapers we sorted through on our return was a letter from the State of Ohio offering me a one year free subscription for identity theft prevention and protection services. Never a good sign when the government offers you something for free. Turns out my name and social security number were on a computer back-up device (also known as a laptop) that was stolen last month from the unlocked car of a college intern working for the State. Now there’s an example of an effective privacy policy.

The State informs me it is unlikely that someone can access the data contained on the device without specialized knowledge and equipment. The State didn’t bother to mention how valuable such a device would be to those that have such specialized knowledge and equipment, and that if the thief had any brains he/she would sell the device to those with specialized knowledge and equipment.

The most intriguing thing about the incident is what one had to do to have their social security number and name included on the stolen device. According to this article by Forbes, individuals whose personal data was stolen fall into one or more of the following categories:

1. Taxpayers with uncashed state income tax refunds
2. Current and former state employees
3. Lottery winners who have yet to cash winning tickets
4. Welfare recipients
5. Vendors

Given I don’t and have not worked for the State, I always have to pay taxes and never get a refund, I’ve never been on welfare and I’m not a vendor, I can only conclude I’m a lottery winner who has yet to cash a winning ticket. This is my lucky day indeed. I will call the State hotline on Monday to find out what I won.