With tax season ending, do you ever wonder what to do with your personal and financial records? Which ones do you need to save for tax or other purposes? While some people like to save things forever, others want to immediately toss out unnecessary clutter.
So what's the best way to decide whether to save or discard your records? Here are a few tips and information sources to help you decide which records you need to save, and how long you need to keep them.
Background. The U.S. Census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790, and is required by the Constitution. The Census was intended to be used primarily for the apportionment of Representatives for Congress. However, the complexity of the Census has grown. The U.S. government has found extensive uses for Census-related statistics. The Census has also been crucial in tracking the population needs of various regions and understanding the composition of the nation's population.
The FTC has announced that customers of LifeLock's identity theft protection services will be receiving refunds as part of a settlement with the company. Since 2006, LifeLock has advertised that it could prevent identity theft for consumers willing to sign up for its $10-a-month service. However, the fraud alerts that LifeLock placed on its customers’ credit files protected only against certain forms of identity theft.
Comments Submitted to the Federal Trade Commission
for Consideration in the Third Privacy Roundtable (March 17, 2010)
by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Beth Givens, Director
March 5, 2010
Privacy Roundtables
Comment, Project No. P095416
Scope
Excerpt from Comments by the Utility Consumers' Action Network and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse on the Assigned Commissioner's February 8th Scoping Memo
Submitted March 5, 2010
Public Utilities Commission of the State of California
The Privacy Problems Inherent in the Smart Grid
Implementation of the smart grid has significant implications for personal privacy. UCAN's program, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, presents the following privacy analysis.
Most people are aware of the dangers posed by scams that claim to be originating from a business. But what if you receive an e-mail, phone call, or letter claiming to come from a government agency? Many consumers are likely to assume that such communications are legitimate because they appear to come from the government.
It’s a new year and you may already be thinking about filing your income tax return. Perhaps you have received your tax forms in the mail from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You may be in a hurry to file if you are expecting a refund. Before you file, we want you to understand about IRS “information returns”. These important documents are mailed to you not by the IRS, but by other organizations.
We at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse wish you a happy, prosperous and private new year. For 2010, resolve to be a privacy advocate. Use our ten tips below to minimize your risk of identity theft, protect your personal information and assert your rights to privacy.
1. Be assertive in guarding your privacy when you are asked to provide sensitive information that you do not feel is necessary. If someone (including healthcare providers, government agencies and employers) asks for your personal information, ask these 5 questions:
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse is pleased to offer these ten timely tips to protect you and your privacy during the holiday season. You may be shopping more frequently and under more crowded and frantic conditions. Follow these tips to help avoid scams and rip-offs. Be a privacy-smart consumer!
[Date]
[Your address]
[Name of company]
[Company's address as shown in the privacy notice]
RE: Opt-Out Instructions for Account #______________
Dear [name if given in the privacy notice]:
Following are my instructions with regard to your information sharing and sales policies:
1. You do not have my permission to share my personally identifiable information with
nonaffiliated third party companies or individuals. I am asserting my rights under the