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Alasdair Mac Cormick - Random Musings


Saturday, July 31, 2004
 
Posted @: 1:30:20 AM by Ally   

Email Privacy

Last October, Bruce Schneier reported a new technique used by car thieves: precision stripping. Here's how it plays: steal a car. Strip the car down to the chassis. Dump the chassis on the street. Soon enough, the cops tow the chassis away. When the chassis is offered up at a police auction, buy the chassis. Reattach the parts to the chassis. Bingo! You now own - legally - a car that you stole. As Schneier puts it, the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) has been "laundered".

Clever man! But the article makes the more serious point about how marketers and advertisers and spammers are using ever more increasingly sneaky methods to obtain consumer information. While on point of email, I have a beta gmail account :-) Cheers Iain for the invite

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