We're All to Blame for Target Hack

Here's a lesson from the Target data hack which, as Nicole Perlroth notes in the New York Times, affected "well over one-third of America’s adult population": It's time to think twice before giving out our email addresses, birth dates, and other personal information to companies. The truth is, a boutique doesn't need your email address to sell you clothing, and a hotel doesn't need your home address or driver's license number to put you up for the night. But these companies shouldn't shoulder all of the blame for breaches—some of it is on us.

"We regularly hand over data simply because we’re politely asked. We don’t read privacy policies," nor do we ask about company's encryption methods, Perlroth writes. "And we don’t stop doing business with companies that don’t take data protection seriously." We might be concerned about shopping at Target now, but soon we'll probably be giving out personal information again. Let's remember: No matter how much money it might have to spend on security, "no company is secure. None of them." Click for the full piece. (More email address stories.)