My name is Thomas Schmit. That might seem evident, given the byline above this article, and the picture of my face beside it, but does any of that actually prove that I am, in fact, Thomas Schmit?

Granted, the wonderful Union staff would never publish an article without knowing that it was 100 percent factual, but let’s say, for the sake of argument, that I had instead mailed in this article and my picture, and never met any of them face to face. What does any of that prove? A picture of me is only a right-click away at websites like Facebook or ISSUU. Any schmo with an AP Stylebook and too much time on their hands could write like me, if they really wanted to.

Now, these might sound like the paranoid workings of a sleep deprived journalist’s brain, but it’s something to consider very carefully, because a person’s identity is in danger today like it’s never been before. Case in point, I received a call last summer after someone claiming to be “Thomas Schmit”, providing my address and other personal information, tried to apply for a credit card. Fortunately, I was able to set the credit company straight, but it was only thanks to one lady’s diligence that I avoided having my credit rating blown out of the water.

I’m not the only one who has been impersonated either. Very recently, a friend of mine had his Playstation Network account hacked. At first, I was confused, my “friend” started messaging me use my account to play some of my games, even though earlier that day I had physically handed him a pair of video games out of my library. Naturally a suspicious man, I casually asked my “friend” how his date had gone with a fictional girl. When he responded that it had gone great, I knew it wasn’t my friend I was speaking with. Frustratingly, it took my friend two weeks to regain access to his account.

Identity is a very valuable commodity these days, one that people don’t often think about. It’s public knowledge that personal information has been leaked from companies such as Target or the folks behind the “SnapChat” app earlier this year (and yes, I checked, my info was leaked in both of these cases). But how many of us have taken the time to reassess our security? How many of us use only one password for all of our email, social media, heck, even online banking?

If you haven’t stopped to think about these things in a while, do yourself a favor. Go home, change your passwords, clean your computer of cookies and malware, and don’t ever “Save” credit card information on an unsecured website. Never give personal information away online, even to people you trust. If they ever need that information, give it to them in person. Otherwise, you might be giving it away or leaving it exposed to a “Thomas Schmit” who’s much less helpful than I am.