I came home today from having breakfast/lunch with an individual who possesses qualities that I can't articulate into appropriate words. To describe him as extraordinary would be a gross understatement, so I shall not even attempt it. However, we had a rather intense discussion over the nearly 4 hours we spent together, defining various topics, including hobbying. It was there that I touched briefly on the topic of client security and what extent I go to ensure their protection.

Another discussion on the phone this afternoon, with a fellow provider, resurrected that same topic and it was she who encouraged me to compose this thread.

So here we go...

Much talk has been made about screening clients and knowing who you are meeting. I can't stress how imperative this is for the provider to do, for reasons that should be obvious. Some clients are known to do their own screening before seeing a provider. This too, is always a good idea, as it'll give you a good idea what you're walking into before you get there. However, not once have I seen the topic raised about protecting the hobbyist. you may not think it's important, but I assure you it is. If you haven't already, I encourage you to watch "The Client List".

With that being said, let me give you some tips.

Your clients, or "friends" as I like to call them, have placed a tremendous amount of trust in you. Just as you have trusted them to not be someone you don't want to spend time with, they are also trusting you to keep their identity safe. Many of them are married, with children. Some of them work a high profile job. Some of them just want to stay UTR in fear of their friends and family learning of their activities. Having something publicly announced could cost them their home, job, their paycheck for the next 11ty billion years supporting kids and in the end, their livelihood. For what? Seeking a reprive from the day to day rat race? I can't think of any person that I've met that deserves that. My friends are my bread and butter. They feed me. They clothe me. They determine the quality of my life. Ask yourself, what are you doing to keep yours safe?

Personally, I go above and beyond.

* The Motorola Atrix has a built in fingerprint scanner. You can't unlock my phone unless you cut off my finger and scan it. I seriously doubt you could force me to do it, provided I'm still alive. No guarantees if I'm dead. My whole life is on this thing. Since the phone is actually a computer with a powerful dual core 1 ghz processor with 16gigs of internal memory, expandable with an additional 32 gig micro sd memory card, it stands to reason it's all you need to function in your underground world. It also has a convenient lapdesk (netbook basically) available where your phone plugs into the back and dubs as a laptop. Food for thought. It's an all inclusive at home, as well as on to go computer.  You can learn more about this amazing device here:
http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN … -US-EN.alt

* In the event I'm dead (hey, it's possible - but I like to think evil never dies, nor sleeps) Good luck extracting any information other than the number of my civvie friends from it. Sure, I have a client list. We all do. How else do I know if a previous client is calling me? It's a little work, but I have to look some of them up. Why? Because every single business phone number that I have stored has the last 4 digits scrambled in a pattern that only I know. I'll take this info to my grave.

* CLEAR YOUR CACHE DAILY! I can't stress this enough. Some of your clients email you contact information. It's too easy to pull up info from your browser history - even on your phone. By clearing it, you've made it harder (not impossible) for anything sensitive to be extracted. This means that you never check the "log me in automatically" or "remember this password" box. Is it inconvenient? Yes. But we're talking security here. Nothing about security is titled as convenient.

* Never write things down on paper, especially addresses. Most smart phones have notepads. Use your phone to it's absolute potential. Delete the note when you've arrived at your destination.

* Don't keep text message conversations. If information is exchanged in text messages that you feel the need to keep, copy that info and email it to yourself. Text conversations can and will be incriminating to both you and the hobbyist. Clear them when you're done. Google docs is a great way to keep notes on a client securely. I prefer to fill up my email box for fast reference. If I need to locate info, there's a search function.

* Have a backup email address that you forward to. Most of us have our business email addresses out there somewhere as a means of contact. I have 3. 1 personal, 1 business and 1 backup. If you have an email that you want to keep for later reference, forward it to another address and delete both the original email and the sent mail folders. In the rare and off chance your account is penetrated, it'll be empty.

I fall in love every day. It may be with his smile, his touch, personality or even the color of his eyes. Something sparked my interest to meet him. Because of that, it's my job to protect him to the best of my ability and no amount of money could ever compromise that.