In one corner…grandparent, who is proud and wants to brag about every accomplishment of every grandchild in every possible venue, including online family-tree sites.  And in the other corner…grandchild, who strongly prefers that information about the living be kept private unless grandparent has the express consent from the grandchild in question.  

This argument has been going on ever since my grandmother joined ancestry.com.  My sister does not want her information on the web, but my grandmother just wants everyone to know how great her grandkids are.  So I recently asked my sister “What's the big deal?”  Her explanation was not what I expected. She is concerned that someone could pretend to be either a long-lost relative or an old friend of a deceased family member, and could use information found online to sound very legitimate.  Those among us on the more cautious side (read: paranoid) might not be fooled.  But some...well, lets just say there are those that might be taken in by such a ploy.

And so this got me thinking—it's really not a far leap to see something like this happening in a business setting.  Think about this: your company might be developing some new technology, or gathering sensitive information, or researching some scientific breakthrough.  A secretary gets a phone call from someone saying that he is her third cousin on Aunt Betty's side, and how is Uncle Bob doing?  Is it really a stretch to think someone might try this to gain access to all that your company is seeking to keep secret? Doesn’t sound so far-fetched now, does it? 

Think about it...

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