Privacy training in San Diego

On Wednesday, Aug. 20, San Diego community-based organizations welcomed the Consumer Action training team for a training on how to educate their constituents about privacy rights.

The privacy training began with a poolside interactive networking lunch that encouraged community groups to communicate and share information about their organizations. The event kicked off with a brief history about Consumer Action, its community involvement, outreach efforts, multilingual materials and advocacy work.

Trainers Linda Williams and Nelson Santiago led consumer groups through Consumer Action’s newest module, Freeze Your Credit File: Leave Thieves Out in the Cold, stressing important steps to protect one’s identity. The training provided a clear explanation of identity theft and the differences between a fraud alert and a security freeze and the pros and cons of each. Williams, who provides financial literacy information to young military recruits, explained the various options that could be used to protect soldiers who are deployed to Iraq and other countries. She explained active duty alerts and noted that although they only last for one year, they can be renewed if necessary.

Santiago addressed issues surrounding medical privacy and shared a variety of sites where consumers could receive comprehensive medical reports. To test their knowledge, participants were grouped and given real life scenarios in which they had to develop next steps to get clients on the right track to protecting their identities and removing false information from their records.

As a result of the privacy training, staff was invited to participate in other consumer events in the San Diego region that focused on identity theft and other consumer issues. The training is a part of Consumer Action’s Privacy Information Project.