It was just a matter of time: Now CA Offers New Law

Now California is getting into the act.

 

Proposed new laws that feed off the fears of the population and not the actual problem.

 

This article appeard on The Mac Observer via my Google News Feed (read here).

 

The tools to safeguard what sites you visit are already in your browsers, regardless of which type you are running.

 

I find it fascinating that the federal and state governments think that by passing a law problems individuals are experencing will magically go away.

 

First, consider a conversation you might have with a co-worker or even a stranger at the local pub during happy hour. What can that person lean about you?

• Your name?
• If you are married?
• What you do for a living?

If individuals were to apply the same concept when they are online our lawmakers could focus on more important things.

Some tracking of what you do online is good. For example if you are into doing geneology work the fact that the websites you use can work with you to provide better information is a good thing. If your intrest is collecting coins or stamps or salt-n-pepper shakers and the 'internet' knows this as you  poke around you will actually get more out of your daily surfing.

It is the malware that traps your passwords and other key strokes you might be making (like your checking account or credit card number) that we need to be vigilant about.

The law that my native state of California and the proposed federal law I wrote about yesterday do nothing to address the real problem.

My advise to you is NEVER give out information that you would not in a normal conversation with a person at church, the pub or in the bleachers at a ball game.

Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date to protect against those little snippets of programming people try to put onto your computer (malware).

Don't be afraid to tell the internet you are looking for that 1963 Franklin Half Dollar in Proof condition to complete your 20th centry type set (for you coin collectors out there).

And remember - if I'm in New York (which I am) and California passes a law that says I can't put a cookie on your computer from a site hosted in (for example) Texas... what is the California Attorney General going to do? Ask me to please check into Folsom Prison?

Don't waste taxpayer's dollars creating new laws and then additional monies trying to enforce them. Focus on the real problems like benefits for vetrans and incentives that create jobs.