Our government should lead the charge to protect the personal data of its people and educate the population about the dangers of identity theft.

We are an interconnected society. We already share a great deal (perhaps too much) data on social-media sites. We have online accounts; we carry plastic cards in a variety of flavors and colors. We are now in prime-time shopping season because of the impending holidays. It's also prime-time for identity theft.

We are already constantly vulnerable to those who see opportunities for ill-gotten gain through the use of technology. The potential rises when there are a lot of shoppers, a lot of workers, perhaps a little bit of inattention and an opportunity. Victim at checkout three.

Add the twin hobgoblins of human error and bad luck, and you come across a story like this one from a recent New York Times. It's a story with the lesson "told you so," but there's no satisfaction to be had in being proven right.

In 2007, Robert M. Nelson, an astronomer, and 27 other scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory sued NASA arguing that the space agency's background checks of employees of government contractors were unnecessarily invasive and violated their privacy rights.

The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, the argument being that the checks could be an inroad to identity theft. The highest court in the land ruled on the government's side. Already, we don't like that.


Earlier this month, Nelson got a letter from NASA saying that there had been a data breach and that his personal information might not be so personal or confidential anymore.

And that's because a NASA laptop was stolen from a car. It was password-protected, but such protections are no guarantee of privacy, and data on the laptop included information on 10,000 space-agency employees. This was, in some cases, chapter-and-verse material - birth dates, Social Security numbes, details of background checks. Everything necessary for convenient identity theft.

This isn't unusual, sadly. Millions of Americans have received notice of similar data breaches with potential theft ramifications. No segment of business is excepted, because every segment uses computers and data collection in its operations.

Through the years, banks, retailers, online sites, businesses of every size and type and other government agencies have all been hit by this. And it's not the first time a stolen laptop has caused the fuss and bother.

Trouble is, NASA was warned as early as 2009 that its security really wasn't up to snuff. But its data-collection policies nevertheless passed muster with the Supreme Court.

And the obvious result is that a mistake was made, and now Nelson joins the millions who have to watch their financial records like a hawk for any signs of pernicious activity. And be subjected to unnecessary worry. It's not like he didn't see it coming, but again, there's no real satisfaction in being right in this case.

NASA isn't alone among federal government agencies with ID theft snafus. The Securities and Exchange Commission had a potential breach not long ago when its data files were opened to a a contractor's subcontractor - without SEC permission.

There is precious little to which we can lay claim of ownership. Property, even owned outright, is still a government rental so long as it is an object of taxation. We have land and material, but in many cases there are outstanding loans upon them that do not allow us to call these things "ours."

But our selves, our own identities, are ours alone - unique and individual. There are times when our backgrounds and personal information are necessary to divulge. But to allow any business, any government agency, any employer, to gather, collate and store a full dossier of data is inherently dangerous and frankly unsettling. And, as we see time after time, there is no guarantee that the data will be used only for its original intent.

The best we as individuals can do is protect our information as well as possible. Think before you provide data; understand that anything provided may not remain solely in the hands of the entity to which it is provided. And some of those who might find the information will have malevolent intent. Never assume privacy. Not in this world. To do so can carry an unpayable price.