Category Archives: Privacy

Business, Communication, Privacy, Security

Personal Privacy – Lost at Sea

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If you are a regular reader of this BLOG, you may have read some of this before, if not, please pay attention.

Our Consultancy enjoys a Security and Privacy Practice, so we tend to speak with some of the brightest and most knowledgeable in the industry, including individuals from the Government.


What we are increasingly hearing is absolutely terrifying, as most of the public are allowing a total invasion of their privacy and personal data with absolutely NO thought as to the consequences.

Our Confidential Information is no longer Confidential, and YOU are at FAULT.

How many times have you filled in something on-line because it was easy?? ….SO easy, that you did NOT read the waiver, and agreed with everything.
Yes, you AGREED to have the recipient of the form SHARE all your confidential information, and you have absolutely no idea who has received it, or what they are doing with it.

So, when you filled in the form to look for the best CREDIT card, your information was shopped to a dozen companies, and shared with numerous credit agencies.

When you went online to improve your credit score, your information was sold.

When you filled in the form on-line with all your CONFIDENTIAL information for a company to find you the most competitive MORTGAGE rates, your information was shopped to a dozen companies.

When you filled in an on-line form for the best life insurance, all your CONFIDENTIAL information was shopped to a dozen companies without your knowledge.

When you fill in on-line surveys, your information is SOLD….yes, you are providing free information for their analytics department to sell. YOU are the product.

When you decided you needed to be fast tracked through the airport, and gave your CONFIDENTIAL information, retina scan and fingerprints, this information is shared INTERNATIONALLY, ever heard of INTERPOL??

Certain credit card companies insist on having your fingerprint, claiming it is to protect YOU, it is NOT. They are amassing ALL your personal data.

Every time you add someone on Facebook, Linkedin, and ‘LIKE” something, that information is sold, but worse, companies like the former Cambridge Analytica and others are able to use it to analyze your life style and friends, because you thought it would be cool to add your education, date of birth, family members and other personal information.
Unfortunately, if CSIS or the FBI think you or one of your friends or family are a criminal, ALL your contacts are reviewed due to guilt by association.
NONE of whom consented to this invasion of their privacy.

When you fill in a CREDIT card application, you are asked for the names of relatives who do not live with you, as well as friends.
Guess what!! If you become a DEAD BEAT, their credit scores drop through association. Yup. Not a joke.
Once again, if you put the name of someone on your form without their approval, you just damaged THEIR credit without their knowledge.

Then we get to my real favourite……DNA tests…….are you KIDDING me?? You have to be INSANE to provide this.

The Government has been itching to gather the DNA of the entire population for years, and you are PAYING for it??
Now, let me mention, once again, that ALL YOUR RELATIVES have their DNA exposed WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT by you doing this. Your uncles, children, their unborn children, shall I continue…..Seriously???

Increasingly there are CCTV cameras throughout cities, roads, highways, stores…….your EVERY movement is recorded. Face recognition is everywhere, now there is software to record your GAIT. … yes, the way you walk combined with your face….if you have a limp, favour a foot, carry your head slightly sideways…..

Voice recognition software is increasingly being used as an identifier..

Using your DEBIT card for EVERYTHING??? Once again, if you ever encounter financial difficulties, you can be SHUT DOWN in 2 seconds with NO ACCESS to cash. Your lifestyle can be TOTALLY monitored through your charges, from date and time, location, to choice of product, and stores.

Have you ever heard of the government doing lifestyle audits?? You have just provided all the information they seek….

Please do not insult my intelligence and say you have nothing to hide. Losing your identity is NOT about having something to hide, it is about companies and the Government knowing how much money you earn, how much you have, what are your assets, (see above) and where they are, who your friends and family are, and whether or not they are criminals. Please do not tell me how your life is an ‘OPEN BOOK’ , when confronted with some of this information, the most ‘OPEN’ books I know turn beet red and stop talking.

When is the last time you cleaned your “COOKIES” never??? Well, hurry up and do it, and make it a regular event.

The latest in the endless ways to remove any vestige of privacy, is airports and check-ins wanting to use Facial Recognition, presumably to make things ‘easier’…..
Then there is the famous ‘BODY SCAN” where they use X-Ray technology to take a total body photograph, which means every bump, ounce of fat, is exposed for the world to see, and if you think for a moment that they will delete it, think again.

There is a certain Insurance Company which now insists that policy holders wear a FitBit.

There is another Insurance Company pushing black box technology to ‘help you drive safely’ , seriously???

Purchase ‘Credit Monitoring” for a mere $10 per month, supplied by, yes, you got it, the very same Credit Bureau who LOST EVERYONE’s CONFIDENTIAL DATA, with their so called ability to scan the DARK WEB, which, anyone in IT knows is a TOTAL FRAUD, as there is no way to scan the dark web, which is the point of it in the first place. ..and bragging that the software cost $1 million is the joke of the century for those of us in the industry……anything only costing $1 million is USELESS. Just the cost of TESTING will be more than that…..just saying…..

A major Hotel chain was just hacked and lost the identities of 500 MILLION CLIENTS.

22 Million identities were just lost in the US holding SECURITY CLEARANCE.

Burglar alarm companies are pushing a new system whereby you can alarm your home, open your front door, turn on your furnace, etc. from your phone……..are you mad???

Personal assistants are always ON, monitoring EVERY word spoken in your home….and you think you have privacy???

SOOO, just to summarize, you use one of these utterly INSANE burglar alarm systems, you have a personal assistant in your home which can unlock your front door and turn off the alarm, what is to stop someone recording your voice, turning off your alarm in your absence and emptying your house??? ……Using YOUR voice to do it from a phishing phone call and recording you…….hellooo…..

Similarly your bank account, which you have on your phone, which can be opened with facial recognition……..hello…….a good photograph will do……probably on your Facebook page.

Thieves are approaching people’s homes to clone the key fobs of people who have automatic keys to unlock and start the car…….theft is up 16%

EVERY TIME you agree to one of the above services, you are eroding your and everyone else’s privacy.

Your sexual preferences, religious beliefs, political views are being watched and sold along with ALL your PERSONAL DATA.

STOP saying yes.       START paying attention to this erosion, and say NO.

Business, Communication, Consideration, Impressions, Integrity, Privacy

Whatever Happened to Discretion??

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There was a time when people of a certain class were proud to keep their private lives out of the public eye. Your name was in the newspaper at birth, marriage and at death, and every effort was made to keep it out for the balance of their lives.

Today, with Social Media, you are considered a loser if you don’t have thousands or even millions of followers on Facebook , Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin filled with endless selfies, delivered almost every millisecond to ensure maximum exposure.

Bragging has become the lexicon for success and visibility. Life is measured and appraised by following the so-called ‘influencers’ on Instagram, snapping images of every facet of their lives, ostensibly to deliver instantaneous views, the rhetoric defining their lives, questionable, as to whether all this actually delivers quantifiable results beyond ego enhancement.

It is a pernicious, dangerous path, for when life and one’s popularity are measured in micro-moments, how can you develop real, honest, and not simply imagined friends??

Is it a real life or a fictitious, staged existence for a fickle, imagined audience, living vicariously through the imagined lives of the various individuals they follow?? Poses in luxurious surroundings, shows of extravagance, beautiful possessions, often staged in shops or in borrowed clothes and homes of friends or acquaintances for long enough to take a selfie.
These same people, dropped equally fast when someone new and more fabulous emerges into view.

Whatever happened to NOT bragging about one’s wealth, popularity or success?? About being gracious, discreet, elegant, kind??

Some people have hundreds of birthday greetings with gushing adoration from their followers, yet spend the actual day totally alone.

Certain individuals have their PR Maven’s on speed-dial racing to ring up newspapers or posting endlessly on Social Media the staged fabulousness of their clients, be it their so-called social lives or business successes.
Appearances at cocktails, balls, gallery openings, conferences, meticulously posted with the requisite photograph to promote their fabulousness. But what do they truly have to offer beyond their staged, fake lives?? Are they educated?? Travelled?? Sophisticated?? Elegant?? Interesting?? Well Spoken?? Have they actually done ANYTHING beyond actually showing up?? Can one actually have an interesting conversation about something other than themselves??

It is extremely unfortunate that in today’s world, being on Social Media is no longer a choice but a necessity, driven by the impression that with no media presence either you or your company do not exist. That most of the most extraordinary websites are for companies that barely exist, and many of the truly successful ones, barely have a social presence. They actually provide a product or service which is in demand within their industry, and do not wish to be inundated with spam.

People do business with people. People make friends with people. People DO NOT do business with Social Media. Some people actually value discretion.

Business, Communication, Privacy, Security, Social Networking

It’s in the CLOUD!!!

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Do you really know where your data is??

Open a magazine, TV, You Tube Hosted news, and see endless advertisements from large companies professing their professionalism and boasting about their ability to host and manage your data in the cloud.

Very few people actually even know what that means. Speak to most people particularly those who are not from the technology sector, and they will actually point to the sky and show you a fluffy cloud, amusing, yes, but frightfully inaccurate. Many Senior Executives in huge corporations are equally naïve, even though slick salesmen are offering them spectacular deals if they put their systems on their particular ‘cloud’.

But WHAT IS the cloud??

Remember outsourcing?? Service bureau’s?? Cloud is the latest, greatest new buzzword to describe putting your business’s critical information on SOMEONE ELSE’s COMPUTERS!!

NOW are you paying attention??

The financial wizards in large corporations, always quick to embrace a new scheme to reduce costs are jumping on the bandwagon as the cost of hosting your own data and managing your OWN off site back up facility have escalated due to the increased costs of real estate and highly technically competent individuals to run it. But at what long term cost??

Being a skeptic at the best of times, I have serious issues with the fact that an unknown third party is hosting all my financial or personal data without either my approval or knowledge, not to mention the fact that it may be hosted in another country with lax privacy controls or legislation. Most companies brag endlessly about their enhanced IT Security, but the truth is, if you speak to the truly Senior Security Specialists in the industry, most will laugh at the pathetic controls of most Fortune 500 corporations.

We have been working in the Security and Privacy field for more years than I will attest to, and have interviewed and worked with endless individuals who are ethical hackers, individuals with high level Security Clearance working in the Government or large corporations, and very few believe that most companies have a fraction of the controls which are necessary. Security may be tight going through the front door, but who is watching the back door?? Yes, it is expensive, but so is being hacked, and losing control of EVERYTHING.

SO, Financial Companies, Healthcare, Legal, Insurance, Government, Transportation, all state unequivocally that your personal information is secure with them, only to turn around and host everything on a third party computer, over the internet, often in a foreign country.

So, what is cloud computing??

It is the practice of using a network of remote servers over the internet to store, manage and process data.

Please pay particular attention to the above. Read it twice, thrice, and PAY ATTENTION.

You DO NOT KNOW where your data resides, or who truly has access. All the promises of security are of absolutely NO VALUE if a junior network technician in the hosting facility clones your data.

Furthermore, to be very clear, Canada, the USA, and other countries have very different levels of legislation to manage the privacy of data.

The next issue, which no one ever wants to address or acknowledge, if what exactly happens if the systems go down, you have absolutely no way of resolving the problem, and lastly, my absolute favourite, is what exactly happens if your provider goes bankrupt or is sold?? Non of which are within your purvue.

SO, to summarize, your business processses are at risk, your confidential data is at risk your technical publications are at risk, your R & D is at risk, your client’s confidential information is at risk, your financial information is at risk………

Are we paying attention yet???

Integrity, Privacy, Quality, Security

George Orwell’s 1984 has arrived with a vengeance

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Let me begin by saying that I have spent most of my career working within the Advanced Technology Industry, with some of the most gifted individuals in the industry.
It has been extraordinarily exciting to see the development of new ground-breaking technologies, but at the same time, the utter erosion of our privacy is extremely concerning, and most people blindly GIVE everything away, with absolutely NO thought as to their actions.

If you continually provide your confidential information willingly, and sign your rights away, as well as your ability to pursue legal action, do not be surprised to know that the government has more information on you and your movements than ever before.

NSA monitors over 20 BILLION conversations and messages every 24 hours.

Airport Security is increasingly demanding both IRIS scans and Fingerprints depending upon your country of origin.

Facebook sold the confidential information of 87 MILLION users to Cambridge Analytica, as well as that of their contacts, without their knowledge or consent.
Equifax lost the confidential credit information on over 15 MILLION people, and have the audacity to aggressively promote online credit scoring and verification, FOR A FEE, as if they could possibly be trusted.
Saks, Lord & Taylor just lost credit data on 5 MILLION clients.
TJX lost 45.7 MILLION
UBER lost 57 MILLION.
And the list goes on and on…….

Today nearly all mobile phones contain GPS, as well as the majority of new vehicles.

Should I go on???

There is a company advertising endlessly that you should send them your credit information and they will choose the best credit cards for your needs.
‘Send us your DNA” to check your ancestry
“send us your DNA’ to check if you have colon cancer…

Submit your income tax returns online using our software…..
Send us your confidential financial information so that we can source the best mortgage, home re-financing, student loan re-financing, life insurance, health insurance, investment opportunities……..the list goes on and on……
All I can say, is DO NOT DO IT.

You have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER who is receiving your confidential information, or what they are actually doing with it. So, when your identity is lost, where do you look??…. by providing the information willingly, and agreeing to the terms of use, you have signed away all your rights. YOU are the product, and you have given these companies free reign to do as they wish with your data.

The latest scam is companies offering to do a ‘dark web scan’ for a fee, seriously??? … it is laughable, as there is NO SUCH THING. The dark web is not indexed, so it is a fraudulent offer…….

Are you afraid yet?? Every time you do a quiz or survey on line you are giving away more of your information.

Consider the increasing use of facial recognition in airports, parking lots, on the street, stores, and businesses. It is being used to follow people, watch their behaviour, and increasingly target them for store offers……
There are an increasing number of companies monitoring the phone calls and emails of their employees, some with knowledge and approval, others not.

Most people have never considered privacy or encryption, or the retention of their private information.

It is YOURS, it is worth guarding. Be vigil.

Business, Integrity, Privacy, Quality

On-Line Business

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Sometimes one feels like they are in a world gone mad.

With the explosion of ebusiness, a lot of companies seem to be under the absolutely ludicrous impression that everyone is always on-line, and wishes to conduct all their business that way. Some twenty-something teckie who is in love with the idea of technology has convinced management that the only way to do business is on-line, and it will solve all their problems. There are a terrifying number of airlines, shops, banks and other service companies who appear to have forgotten why they were in business in the first place. In a word, giving SERVICE to their CLIENTS.

Do they really expect the silver-haired octogenarian to conduct her business on-line? The infirmed? To book airline tickets, do their banking, and deal with problems by accessing a computer? As some of the modern telephones are intimidating enough, never mind being told by a recorded voice that if you have a problem, ‘you can contact us on line at ‘ www.noservice.com’ or ‘we’re too important to speak to you on the telephone.com’ or ‘we don’t care about you.com’ and being incapable of actually finding a human being to speak to.

Computers are a truly wonderful creation, I’ve spent most of my career working in the computer industry, and am enthralled by the level of imagination in the field. From voice recognition, 3D animation, robotics , aircraft simulators for pilot training, complete with cockpits which actually move, microscopic surgery, and artificial limbs, the uses of technology are advancing daily, and most of it at the click of a mouse. However, companies must understand that not everyone wishes to live through the use of technology, nor does everyone think with the logic of a computer. Some people are visual, some auditory, others tactile, some mathematical, and others just plain lonely. Never underestimate the value of a live human voice. No automated system can ever replace the sound of the words,
‘can I help you with something? Is everything ok?”

Although I work in the industry, and am extremely savvy to the uses of technology, as it happens I am also someone who does NOT wish to conduct my personal business on-line. And it is interesting to note, that there a great number of people like myself, who have decided that if a company does not wish to speak with me in person in order to obtain my custom, then I will probably not be doing business with them.

So, next time you decide to automate a customer service function, try asking the clients what they think about the idea first.

Clients pay your salary and your rent. They should have a voice. The old expression ‘money talks and money walks’ should be remembered. Do something original.
ASK.!

Impressions, Privacy, Quality

Customer Loyalty Programs

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……fabulous or an invasion of privacy?

They are a double edged sword.

Companies are convincing their clients to sign up for all sorts of Customer Loyalty Programs ostensibly to reach certain levels and receive gifts or free travel. In exchange, companies are collecting extensive experience on their clients buying habits, from restaurants, travel, pharmacy, clothes and groceries, which they are then mining for trends. If a client consistently purchases expensive clothes, then their information is sold to third parties for cash and the client is solicited by other companies for credit cards, cars and other products. Although in the last few years it has been mandatory to request permission to share the information, it is not always the case. This crosses and interesting line between misuse of information and invasion of privacy, in many cases, both personal and corporate.

In days of old, there was an interpersonal relationship between merchant and client, where the client would ask the merchant to please advise them of certain items coming into the shop, or sales.

Some people I know put every possible expenditure they can on their corporate credit card in order to collect travel points, and then use the points to travel internationally for free,  which can be an interesting compensation for someone who travels extensively on company business. Other people use their credit cards for everything from groceries to gas, and collect points.

In the electronic age, there is no such thing as privacy, the more information is collected, the more is known about you. A lot of people use the argument, ‘I have nothing to hide’, however, that is not really the case. Do you really want someone, unknown to you, to be able to do a lifestyle analysis on you and track your purchases, travels and buying habits?  From personal hygiene products to drugs?

Do you really think it is a good idea for strangers to be able to mine your life and find out what doctors you visit, what stores you frequent, what restaurants you eat in, and how much you spend on groceries versus restaurants every week?

One frightening bit of information which is unknown to most people, is that the credit bureau also hosts all the insurance data, so, it is not a large stretch of the imagination, to envisage the day when one required to fill in an application form for a loan, and be obliged to allow the insurance information to be provided as well. Think about it. The next step after that is job applications where this information must be provided. Then what?

Big Brother is Watching.

Privacy, Quality, Reading

Credit Card Hoax= Buyer Beware

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Over the years I have spoken to people endlessly about the abuses of privacy and credit, and the incredible damage which can be done  which is practically impossible to un-do.

Privacy, and the abuse of personal information, credit card and identity theft are running so high the banks and credit card companies are seeking any excuse to put the blame on the innocent victims.

A couple of months ago, there was a contest which looked like it was from a particular bank, so a young lady (20) filled in the information online and then never heard anything again. A couple of weeks ago, she received a telephone call informing her that she had won a trip to Florida and a tour of the Universal Studios….as you can imagine, she was thrilled, and, when they gave her the last 4 digits of her credit card number, she was more than happy to provide the balance of the numbers, as well as the security code. Her limit being too low, she quickly offered up another credit card to cover the balance of the deposit which was required. She called the office to speak to her father, and upon hearing the details of the trip, as well as the way in which the credit card information was taken from her, I quickly told her that she had been scammed, and that she should cancel both credit cards as fast as she could. By the time she called the 2 credit card companies, the amounts had been put through, and she was in fact, over her limit on one of the cards. We quickly brought her to the police station to fill in the appropriate forms, hopeful that her money would be returned by the 2 credit card companies.

NOT THE CASE.

As she had willingly provided the security codes, the companies said that there was nothing they either would or could do. It was now firmly on HER shoulders, and although she reported the incident instantly as well as going to the police, she was at fault. She is 20. How can an honest, hard=working student hope to pay this money back?

Through no fault of her own, she now risks bad credit to pay back a fraud.

Something wrong with this picture.

Last autumn, I was also the recipient of a similar telephone call. The timing was interesting, as I had recently spoken to a group about the very subject, and not a week later I received a call telling me that I had won a cruise!   As I rarely enter contests, it sounded a bit strange. The fact that there was no name on the telephone under call display as well as a strange telephone number on the display, made me doubt the caller. It also sounded like a telephone call center in the background, too many voices, too animated, but, WOW! Was the caller smooth. He identified himself as ‘Jason” and told me I had won a cruise, and required a valid credit card number to process my trip. I told him that I don’t have one. He then proceeded to argue with me saying that he knew I had an ‘emergency’ credit card number, and that he had it on file, so would I confirm it. I laughed and told him that he should tell me which credit card number he had, as it had been 15 years since I had a credit card. He was amazingly smooth on the telephone and laughed me off, saying that he knew I had a ‘secret’ credit card for travel and we both knew about it. I kept asking him what credit card it was and he kept changing the subject. He was incredibly well trained at the art of turning a conversation around. He kept insisting that I had a  secret credit card ,and that he needed it as a security deposit incase I had a ‘rock star moment’ on the cruise and trashed my room, so that they were covered. I finally told him that as far as I was concerned, the call was a hoax, there was no cruise, I had not entered any contests, and he was not getting a non-existent credit card number, and he hung up the telephone.

Two nights later I was at an event, and one of the participants came running up to me to thank me for my constant discussions of fraud and credit card abuses, she is a retired woman in her 80’s who lives alone, and she had received the same telephone call, they had been equally charming with her on the telephone and she went along with the call ….until she hung up the receiver and realized she had been scammed. She immediately rang up the credit card company and cancelled her card, and thanked me profusely for discussing the issue relentlessly. She actually got to the credit card company before the charge was put through, and was saved. Unfortunately, in the case of our pretty 20 year old, she lost her money and the credit card company told her that because she willingly gave out her codes, they wouldn’t do anything about it, she would have to pay the money. Even though it is fraud, and she has a police report.

Be careful out there folks, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If someone calls you saying you won a contest and requests your

Credit card information, do the smart thing, ask for their name, company name and telephone number and check them out. Chances are, they will either hang up on you, or give you a number which is not ever answered,, and that will be your proof of fraud. Report them to the police regularly, that is the only way this illicit behaviour will stop.

Consideration, Privacy

Collection Agencies

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Overzealous thugs.

No, I am not being kind. If most people were aware of how their credit information is used, and the abuses in the system, they would think twice before giving all the information freely which is requested.

The current system works on the magical assumption that most people work and are paid weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, and therefore all bills are due on the beginning of the month. However, during the last 10 years, that situation has changed drastically, and the financial models which are used are in many cases no longer suitable. For individuals who are self-employed, one does the work, invoices, and waits anywhere from 10 days to 2 months. The total elapse time is 3 months. The credit system works on the old model, so if someone is 3 months behind paying their bills, they are immediately labeled a ‘deadbeat’, and bills are placed into collection.

With more and more people not having land lines, and relying entirely on mobile telephones, and changing their numbers and providers on a fairly regular basis, it makes for interesting times for collectors.

One of my business associates has been bombarded with telephone calls from a collection agency for the past month, with calls at all hours of the day, as well as on the weekend. The bill collector calls his home and asked him to identify himself, which, of course, being in the IT industry, and most importantly within the Identity and Privacy specialist, he refused to do. He asked over and over who they were, why they were calling, and they became increasingly hostile and belligerent over the telephone. He became so exasperated that at one point he threatened to call the police if they didn’t stop calling  over and over. He insisted to speak with a supervisor, also to no avail. Finally, after a complete day of rude non-stop calls, a supervisor finally called back. She confirmed the telephone number, it was correct, she confirmed the name, also correct, after much discussion, she finally admitted she was from a collection agency, so he inquired  exactly which bill it was that he was supposed to have not paid, it was an account he doesn’t have. The conversation ensued, she then asked if he lived in a particular town, considering the telephone number, it would have been impossible as the area codes do not correspond. That being said, she then asked if his birthday was a particular day and a particular month, it was not. So, it turns out, the person they were seeking had the same name, lives in a different area, has a different birth date, and is no relation. She then admitted that they were working their way through the telephone book and calling everyone with that name. No apologies, simply that she would update the file and they would cease calling.

We had a long discussion about the credit system, he then called the telephone company and had to pay to have his telephone number changed and unlisted.

This is disgraceful. The wrong person, the wrong address, the wrong everything, yet legally they have the right to call and threaten and treat people as deadbeats.

What is the reason for this article? To make you all mindful of the way the system works, and to warn you of a credit system gone mad.

Don’t give out your personal information to anyone unless you know who they are, and are aware of the use of the information. Give as little as possible, don’t believe the rhetoric about how it is necessary. In most cases it is not.