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It interesting to note that yesterday, Tuesday, February 19th 2008, there was an article posted on the "yes" side and that today there is not one.

I am new to Helium and this will be the first article that I have presented so please let me know how I do. Be brutal - I can handle it, I promise.

Please allow me to relate a personal experience with you, the reader.

I stopped by a McDonald's for lunch around 11:50 this past fall of 2007. I placed my order for a burger and fries, paid, and migrated to the left side of the counter. I know you can picture this; it is the side of the counter that is next to the opening that leads to the back of the store. I believe there is some sort of internal rule that ALL McDonald's have the same basic layout.

I was standing there waiting on my order and I happened to look down at the counter. I noticed that there was a filled out application with the writing that was upside down to me. I looked around. I was thinking. You see, I teach finance at a local high school and I was on my lunch break. When I observed that no one was paying any attention to me, I reached down, put my hand on the top of the application and turned it to where it was facing me. I looked and there it was the applicant's social security number in the upper right hand corner of the application.

I know about "identity theft" or "identity takeover" since I teach finance. Could I have taken the application? Probably. I could have laid a newspaper on top and rolled it up as I picked up my order. But I thought of one better than that. I could have simply pulled out my cell phone and taken a picture of it. Identity taken over in less than ten seconds! Boy that is some security.

Who would be to blame if I had been a crook and I had become "Johnny" or "Suzie"? McDonald's? They would certainly have the majority of the blame, but how would one know? How about the applicant's? I would blame the applicant most of all. Let me explain:

When I am discussing identity theft with my students I advise them to NEVER write in their social security number on an application. I tell them to fill out the application and take it to the location and hand it directly to a manager. Do not turn it in to the employee if a manager is not available. Once they hand it to the manager, they need to point out that they intentionally left the social security number blank blank. They should then tell the manager that they would be happy to provide it to them once they are hired.

This is a smart thing to do. First, it shows the manager that the applicant is pretty smart for being aware of current issues such as ID theft. Second, it shows the manager that the applicant is willing to deal with the manager one-on-one since they wanted to hand it to the manager directly. By doing this, an applicant should stand out in the manager's mind when it comes time to hire someone.

No one should think their information is safe when it comes to governments or businesses.

Learn more about this author, B Smith.
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