Your Personal Information Tip


ashley3471

New Member
Take all of you documents, back and front and sideways and scan them into a computer. Email them to your Yahoo account or Google account and you will always have access to them from anywhere on the road.

To go one step further, take the scanned documents and burn them to a CD and carry it in the car for extra backup.

If you don't know how to scan or don't have one, most computer stores will do it for you for a fee.

This includes credit cards, phone cards or anything thats in your wallet that's important to you if lost.
 

TexasClodhopper

Senior Member
Your Personal Information Tip

"Email them to your Yahoo account or Google account "
This has GOT to be the WORST advice that I have EVER heard.
PLEASE DO NOT email or otherwise place this much PERSONAL data on a PUBLIC internet site.
I cannot believe that you have thought that through. I wish you would edit your post and REMOVE that part of your "advice".
 

SnowbirdInFlight

Senior Member
Your Personal Information Tip


I'm with you Texas! You should never send your personal info to such a public forum. Burn it to a CD and put it in a very safe place yes, but do not send it to anywhere on the internet!
 

SnowbirdInFlight

Senior Member
Your Personal Information Tip


Furthermore, if you have them scanned to your laptop or computer, you don't even need to make a CD unless you just want a back-up. Ashley, maybe you don't realize how foolish this advice is and I hope you haven't done it yourself already.
:(
 

TheWetFish

New Member
Your Personal Information Tip

To go one step further with advice might be to combine some of what good advice is mentioned. Scan your documents and if saving on your computer, thats fine. Yet still make a backup CD in the unfortunate event of a virus or other computer problem. That way you have that CD if the computer is lost, stolen, or damaged. Maybe even a second CD to store at a "trusted" family members place or a bank safe deposit box. Yep, I said it, make a backup of the backup.

I also agree about the public email thing being a huge NO.

Matt
 

Wind River

New Member
Your Personal Information Tip

Don't even save the scanned info on your computer hard disk. What if it is stolen or lost? Someone is going to have all your info. Just keep the appropriate phone numbers handy. If a card is lost or stolen, all you have to do is call the card company. A back up CD is OK only if it is in a safe place.
 

Al Wells

New Member
Your Personal Information Tip

While digitizing of personal data is sound advice, keeping it from prying eyes while still allowing access when you need it, is the real problem.

While many have expressed legitimate concern over sending it to an email account, there is one method that will work. You can encrypt your data using software such as PGP (Pretty Good Privacy)! This software is used by businesses, (including mine); politicians; government agencies; Health Care professionals; journalists; law enforement agencies and of course a good share of not so legal users. Why? It works! And to date, no one has been able to crack the code!

Home site...http://www.pgp.com/

Check out the following URL's for more info...
http://www.andrebacard.com/pgp.html
http://cryptography.org/getpgp.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy

Free 30 day trial version...
http://www.pgp.com/downloads/desktoptrial.php
Al
 

jommer

New Member
Your Personal Information Tip

sorry for bring this post back up but just had to comment:

I think keep info on or near (cd) your computer ranks right up there with hiding in the wife’s jewelry box.. with so many good hiding place in your rv, why keep it near anything that a thief might want to take?

this reminded of a guy I knew back in highschool. he had been at sea for a year with the navy, and came home to a 1 month leave. he had saved a few thousand dollars for his vacation. he was worried about losing his money so his brilliant plan was to hide the money in his cassette tape case. Well, you can guess the rest, on his trip home he stopped to fill up and grab a drink, when he came back to his car everything was still there except in tape case.. He had put it in the only thing a thief though was worth steal, his music collection.

Anyways, some of better ideas I have is write the info on small piece of paper, put it in a baggy and tape it in a hard to find location. My favorite idea, for me, is to write the info on the back of a picture of myself, and then put the picture in a fame. Luckily I’m a very ugly person , so I don’t have to worry about some wanting to steal a picture of me. :bleh:

I also like the ‘hide in plan sight’ idea. You really don’t need all you credit card info, just the bank’s phone number. Think about if, if you call the bank told then your card was stolen, they won’t argue with you the close it out. i sure they can come up with the card number with just you name, address and maybe date of birth. Maybe they might ask for your ss#, and mother maiden name, but they would be foolish not to cancel the card, even if you don't have the number and expiration date. so just put the bank’s phone number in your address book. If you need jr’s ss# encode it. For example if it’s 111-22-3333, just put and entire in you addy book as "jr’s cell (111)223-3330" (just have to remember if the last number is bogus).
 

ARCHER

Senior Member
Your Personal Information Tip

Well, I download any pesonal stuff from laptop while on the road in RV and put on CD. I lock the downloaded CD in my on-board safe that is locked. I would never put any personal info out on any web site for downloading. That is the dumbest idea I have heard for a long time. It doesn't take but a second to use the CD for finding any info I may need while traveling. Also, On my home PC, I password protect it, just in case someone breaks in while I am gone and decides to fire up my PC and do some personal stuff.
 

Kirk

Senior Member
Your Personal Information Tip

I use the program PWSafe to keep mine. It requires a password to access them. That same account has my credit card numbers and all of that sort of thing. We have a copy on each or our computers that way we have a back-up.
 

hertig

Senior Member
Your Personal Information Tip

Haven't there been a rash of onboard safes being pried out of RVs lately?
 

ARCHER

Senior Member
Your Personal Information Tip

Hertig,
Have not heard of any but that doesn't mean it has not happened. I don't keep much of value in it anyway. Just some CDs. We don't carry cash or jewelerly worth much. My "safe" is hidden pretty well anyway. If someone is in the MH looking, they would steal the TV, etc., I think before they would start tearing up the walls or floors, I guess. No different than a house. If they want in, they will get in and if they get in, they will steal. We don't leave the MH for very long and most people we camp beside, we become friends with and they all look out for each other and know who should be there and who should not be there. I don't worry about it. I've got insurance and If, by chance, I am there, when they try to get in, it will be the last time they try that.....if you know what I mean. :approve:
 

hertig

Senior Member
Your Personal Information Tip

There is a park here which has had several high-end safes pried out.

The whole point is, if they get your CDs with your personal info, they can pillage your credit and identity. So, if you have that info with you, in any form, in any method of storage, make sure it is encrypted some how.
 

ronharp

New Member
Your Personal Information Tip

RV safes are ripped off a lot. They are an easy target that any even semi pro burglar will find in seconds.

Archer

Just thinking about your camping neighbors and friend making a little bit here. You were not by any chance in Colorado just west of Colorado Springs a few years ago making friends with those(very popular) Texa 6 escaped convicts were you??? lol They were the favorite campers of everyone in the park. They were very helpful, had a great sense of humor and volunteered, not only in the park, but in town and were greatly appreciated by all right up to the point they were surrounded and taken into custody. Talk about SHOCK!!! lol

Ron, Linda & Charlie Dog
 
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