Electronic data leakage is what happens when you shop using a store or "club" card; the store collects tidbits about your preferences and purchasing habits so it can send you targeted promotions. Data leakage occurs any time you supply your credit card number, driver's license number, phone number, Social Security number, e-mail address or any other identifying facts. Little bits of info seep into the hands of the recipient to be used for good purposes (ID confirmation on checks, for example), annoying ones (selling your address to a junk-mail company, or your phone number to a telemarketer) or downright evil ones (stalking, identity theft). Sure, credit and debit cards are more convenient to use than cash, but sometimes we pay the price in privacy.
Nonelectronic data leakage worsens with age. You know the feeling — that something you used to know has slipped away somehow. Or that information you take in might not stay in your head for long. I experience this every day as I wade through the numerous health research updates that fuel our Award-Winning Magazine. Also, some other thirty-somethings and I were debating today whether we could handle the information overload of college study at this advanced stage of life. Add to this the fact that I regularly sacrifice brain cells on the altar of martial arts practice and, well . . . what was I saying?