Americans are urged to be more savvy about preventing their personal information from falling into strangers' hands. We are advised to shred documents containing our Social Security numbers, never to give our credit card numbers to people calling us, and not to put our children's names on our personal web sites. At the same time, more and more information is being collected about each of us, just as we go about our daily lives-buying things, paying our taxes, and using public services. Since 9/11, Americans have become more aware of the vast amount of personal information available as government proposals to integrate and mine this information to thwart terrorism have gotten public scrutiny. Most of these proposals involve gaining information about individuals by using the newest technology to link files from diverse sources. Critics have asked, "What is to keep this technology from being used for inappropriate or illicit purposes?"
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