Privacy Invasion

Last semester I was a victim of identity theft. I never thought it would happen to me.

I was shopping before leaving for Texas v. OU weekend in Dallas. When I went to the counter to make my purchases, I was told that my debit card was not working. Of course I freaked out, because I had just checked my account hours before and knew I had sufficient funds to cover what I was buying. After getting on the phone with my bank I was told my account had been frozen due to a purchase that was attempted in Atlanta, Georgia that day. Luckily my bank red flagged it, because there would have been no way for me to get there physically between the time of my previous purchase and that moment. The woman on the telephone was very nice, and told me that the person had an actual card swipped that ran as my account. I have no idea how they got my debit card number.

What is even stranger is that both of my roommates and other people I know had the exact same thing happen to them, and the purchases were all made in Atlanta, Georgia! Unfortunately, there fund were actually withdrawn. I was able to order a new card with a new number and have no further worries except wondering how it all happened. Of course I had to go the entire weekend with out my card, which was very difficult to manage.

I agree with the definition of privacy given in the reading."Privacy isn't just about hiding things. It's about self-possession, autonomy and integrity." Not everything of our lives should be kept behind closed doors, but we should have the choice what is and is not made public. Therefore, it really scares me how easily our lives can be invaded, even if we do everything right and cover our tracks. It becomes harder and harder to trust the human mind and what it is immorally capable of.