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2 I The Best Online Education System in the world
PROTECTING ONE’S IDENTITY-NOW VITAL, MORE THAN EVER
Kathlyn Q. Barrozo
Class of 1991, University of Santo Tomas
B.S. Medical Technology
We all seek a sense of identity. We want to be known for being ourselves, while many of us need to be
identified with certain groups or teams. The sense of identity makes us want to belong, whether to a special
group or as an individual. We love to be recognized as part of a unique group or as being just who we are.
Identity establishes our statement on why we are who we are, a gift that makes us able to say THIS IS ME and
there isn’t anybody in the world that’s exactly like me.
We have profiles on social networking sites, in which we fill each and every blank with all manner of
information available to us. We need to make others aware that beyond being just a part of the moving sea of
humanity in which we swim and live and have our careers, we are different, maybe a breed apart even.
We find contempt in those who seek to establish an identity that’s quite apart from who they really are. Take
for instance, poseurs in social networking sites. There are many, I have heard, that use the identity of others to
get into the inner circle of those they would like to victimize. Identity theft has been a perennial problem and it
has gone hi-tech. Nowadays, it is no longer strange to hear of people whose credit cards have been used
without their knowing it. Time was when such occurrences were unimaginable, what with the stringent
identification procedures that were pursued by credit card issuers. But nowadays, with such tools as ‘skimming
devices’, anyone can be a victim in a credit card information theft scheme. Yes, stealing identity has become as
easy as swiping a card.
We can never tell where evil schemers will stop at stealing identities that are not their own. The brazenness
with which they do their crimes is astounding and unbelievable. Imagine losing your hard-earned cash to
unscrupulous individuals who will stop at nothing to gain what they have not worked hard for. Now, more than
ever, we need to protect our identity in the same way we protect the lives of those we love, or the way we
protect our own lives.
In the end, our identity is all we have. If we lose it or we get robbed of it, we lose nearly everything we work
hard for. It would even be worse if our identity is used for evil schemes, as when someone sends emails to
those in our contact list to ask for things in our name. I hope I have been able to establish my identity enough
for all my friends to know what I can and won’t do. If so, my identity is safe!
Questions for Discussion:
1.
What is identity?
2.
Nowadays, how is identity established?
3.
Why should our identity be safeguarded at all times?
4.
How can one lose their identity?
5.
Is it possible to regain a lost identity? How?