Celebrating Two Years Online!

Two years ago today, I started the I've Been Mugged blog. Since then, I've learned a lot about identity theft, fraud, privacy, and data breaches. This blog has been a good tool to organize my thoughts, learnings, and the online resources I've found. During the past year, a new Twitter feed and Facebook page have helped I've Been Mugged reach new readers.

Some thank-you messages are definitely called for. First, I'd like to thank I've Been Mugged readers. Weekdays, the I've Been Mugged blog gets about 350 - 400 hits daily. I am grateful for our readership and for the comments you have submitted. W have explored together many interesting topics, and I look forward to more exploration.

Second, I'd like to thank the bloggers and the consumer advocates I've met online. Without their suggestions and encouragement, The quality of I've Been Mugged posts wouldn't be as high as it has been. Some bloggers I'd like to thank by name: John Taylor, Lori Magno, Diane Danielson, Michael Krigsman, Chris Ott, Drew McLelland, Ryan Barrett, Ronni Bennett (who leads by example far more than she realizes), and Jonathan Feeley.

Third, I'd like to thank my guest author, Bill Seebeck, for his insightful and controversial posts.

Fourth, I'd like to thank the Privacy Crusaders. If you know who they are, then you know the good they've done.

Fifth, I'd like to thank IBM for losing my sensitive personal data during their February 2007 data breach. That incident caused me to start blogging. The more I learned about data breaches and the way companies assist (or don't) their data-breach victims, the more I realized that I had to do something. Rather than be angry, blogging seemed like a healthy and appropriate response.

If you haven't noticed yet, I named this blog in honor of IBM's data breach = I've Been Mugged.

And, I especially want to thank my wife, Alison. Without her support and flexibility, I couldn't write I've Been Mugged.

What's next for the coming year? We'll continue to write about identity theft topics, data breaches, and areas where corporate responsibility is lagging. Of course, we'll follow hot topics such as medical identity theft and fraud, behavioral advertising, and identity-theft legislation.

We'll continue to report on emerging issues that affect consumers; like our February 2009 blog posts about higher credit card interest rates by banks in March and April that affected consumers. And, we'll sprinkle this blog with plenty of ID-theft humor, since it's never all doom and gloom.

When it comes to identity theft, data breaches and corporate responsibility, there seems to be plenty to write about.

Comments

[John Taylor]

Back attcha George! Nice work you do there.

John

[Rick Cabral]

Congratulations George, your posts are a great read and help generate that much needed righteous rage. Keep digging.

[Janice]

Way to go George!

[Lori Magno]

Congratulations and THANK YOU for all the information and insight you bring to this space - and this important topic!

[ann hannan]

Way to GO G! Congratulations and continued success.