Cheryl Baumgartner, Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist

Legal Shield is counting down to the launch of our campaign to bring affordable legal access to the Spanish Speaking market of North American and we need Spanish speaking associates to help spread the word.

Roughly 34% of North Americans speak Spanish, but that should not prevent them from enjoying the same legal access as any other American.  However the language barrier could mean a lack of understanding when learning about their rights.  Legal Shield wants to erase that barrier and the concept of' Equal Justice under the law' a reality for everyone in the areas we serve.  Equal justice should not rely on race, creed, color or language.

Who do you know in Southern California that speaks Spanish?  The Campaign will be launching on October 1st and it will spread to Spanish speaking markets throughout the US!  How would you like to take advantage of this?  You can position yourself now to take advantage of this marketing blitz right now by becoming an Independent Associate with Legal Shield.  Then spread the word to the people you know that speak Spanish.  Simply share this opportunity for them to not only put extra money in their pocket, but to find out how they can bring a valuable service to the Hispanic community!

Once again it's time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  That means that it is time to be more aware of the possibility of Identity theft.  We see a lot of safety tips about off line shopping but what about online shopping?  Yes in the long run it can be more secure but you must still follow simple safety measures.

I came across an article that talks about the safety issues for both individuals and businesses.  If you own a business you must remember that your employees are a vital part of that business. Being a victim of identity theft can not just devastate their lives but impact your business through lost work hours, distraction and stress from the employee.

Please take a moment to look over this great article

There Is something new coming to the internet.  This could very well be the next Twitter or the ext Facebook and it is possible for you to be there when it launches.

Please visit How to Blastoff and watch both the video and the presentation.  If after seeing the information you want to be a part of the launch of this great experience, visit my site and take the steps to position yourself.

If you don't want to be positioned to take advantage of the launch then wait until October when you can get your free blastoff homepage.

Zero tolerance policies have become the standard in our schools.  While the spirit behind them is admirable,  the application of these policies leave something to be desired.

Yes we do need to keep weapons and illicit drugs out of our schools, but there needs to be some common sense applied to these policies.  That's the problem, the zero tolerance policy leaves no room for judging each case on it's own merits.  It also makes no allowance for honest mistakes or even non criminal actions.  Everything is for lack of a better word "criminalized" under a zero tolerance policy.

Imagine the following scenarios:
*Your 14 year old Daughter takes Midol to school with her.  Midol is a perfectly legal over the counter pain reliever for the treatment of menstrual symptoms.  However if she is caught with it, she is violating the school's zero tolerance policy.

*Your son forgets he has a swiss army knife in his pocket.  He remembers on the way to school and immediately upon arrival at school he turns it in to the office and gets suspended for violating the schools zero tolerance policy on weapons.

*Your child is being bullied by another child and hit's them back.  Your child is suspended for defending himself because it violated the school zero violence policy.

There is case after case of these zero tolerance policies catching good kids and punishing them without thought to the childs' prior behavior or academic record.  Sounds unfair to me.  Even The American Bar Association recognizes the unfairness of these policies.

So how do you protect your child's rights.  How about making sure that the child's rights are protected by legal counsel?  An attorney in your child's corner only makes sense when their rights are at stake.

Are you looking for an opportunity?  Right now PrePaid Legal Services Inc. has reduced associate fees until August 31st, 2009 at 2 pm CDT.  If you are looking to make some extra money in a real opportunity, I am looking for you. 

In 1997, Dr Henry Louis Gates was listed among the 25 Most Influential People by Time Magazine(See page 4).  Being on that list is a major accomplishment bringing respect from the public and your peers.  Being a tenured Professor at one of the most well known Ivy-League schools in the nation is a major accomplishment bringing respect from the public and your peers.  In other words this is a highly respected and influential individual.

Most of us would claim that someone as influential as Dr Gates was in no way at risk of being racially profiled.  It just would never happen and yet, it has.  In 2009 it was proven that no matter how respected and influential your are you can still be racially profiled by the police.  The office says he has done nothing wrong, and perhaps he did "follow procedure."  In the back of my mind I can't help but wonder how much "procedure" would have been followed if the were a Caucasian professor.  Would he have been so quick to follow procedure then? Would a Hispanic professor also been treated to procedure or or would the officer had simply said "Sorry to bother you and have a nice night?"

If something like this can happen to such a prominent individual, what chance do you or I have?  Well I have the option of calling my attorney no matter what time day or night is the police wish to detain, question or arrest me.  My rights are protected, what about yours?  Contact me for more Information.

Most of us trust blindly when it comes to our personal information.  When we do business with someone we automatically assume our personal information is safe.  Sometimes the business we do commerce with does keep our information safe, third party vendors may not be so trustworthy.  Other times everyone may be trustworthy but an employee is not.

The following press release came from the Dallas office of the FBI and shows just how an unscrupulous employee can gain access to our personal information.

Arlington Security Guard arrested for hacking

Identity theft is a life changing event.  Once you are a victim things are never the same again.  The effects can be felt years later.  Many people think that Identity theft victims have an issue, they fix it and problem solved.  More often than not it's fix a problem and hold your breath until the other shoe drops.  Then fix that problem.

The Opinion section of the May 15th, 2009 Chicago Tribune carried the story of an Identity Theft Victim in her own words.  For the past 12 years, her life has been intertwined with the life of a woman who stole her purse and her identity.  Legal battles to clear her name of one charge only to find herself on the verge of being arrested by Customs for smuggling an illegal substance.  This is the reality of identity theft, not the cute commercial with the guy talking about the leather bustier in a girl's voice.

There is nothing amusing or funny about identity theft, just ask the victims who are constantly watching over their shoulder to see what issue will disrupt their life next.

If you have a business and you are doing everything right, Making sure you are in compliance with all required regulations you're covered right?  Not necessarily.  Third party vendors and service providers could prove to be weak spots with the new Federal laws on Privacy and Security.

What information are you sharing with them?  Could they possibly ever has access to information that you hold?  What information security procedures do they use, are they the same of comparable to yours?  These are all questions that the smart business owner will ask themselves in today's information driven society.

Protecting personal information is a must.  Even if you don't fall under federal law as a mandatory compliance entity, you fall under these laws as a good business owner.   It's a good business decision to do everything you can to protect the information that your clients, customers and partners share with you.  It's a good business decision to do everything you can to protect the information that you are responsible for. 

If your janitorial company breaches information you hold, you have to think about how they got that information in the first place.  You have to think about mandatory notification laws, legal liability, fines and lawsuits.  Doesn't it make sense to take a proactive approach to avoid the headaches rather than deal with them when it happens?  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  In the case of a security breach "pennies of prevention can be worth tens of thousands of dollars in cure".

We've just published a new edition of our newsletter! You can check it out on our website and get the latest information from Cheryl Baumgartner, Independent Associate PrePaid Legal Services. Let us know what you think!

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