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Can't Log Off in New Orleans
ChrisCrossings ˇ October 30, 2001

Q: My partner and I flew to New Orleans last Wednesday, and because it was our vacation, I did not bring my laptop computer. Once there, we decided that we wanted to go to Washington for the rest of the week. I called several airlines and got fare quotes from them. Then I went to a local Internet café and paid $8 for half an hour to see if I could find an even better deal online.

The last site I visited before time ran out was Travelers Advantage, which I have a membership with. I tried to log off, but I couldn't find a place to do so. All of my personal information, including my credit card number, was cached on this machine in New Orleans.

I asked the owner of the Internet café to delete all of my information. He refused. He became very belligerent and ordered me to leave his business. I refused. Needless to say, the police were called, and thankfully they sided with me and instructed the owner to remove the information on the machine.

I called Travelers Advantage this afternoon and was told that for my "convenience" there is no log-off feature on their website, and was given many excuses. I'm afraid their excuses would work with many Internet users. However, since I am a systems engineer familiar with code, they didn't make any sense.

Please make sure that what happens to me doesn't happen to others.

-- Bil Brierley

A: I called Travelers Advantage to see if I could get a straight answer. Here's what I found out:

According to Tom Rusin, Travelers Advantage senior vice president of product management, the website does offer a log-off option. I wasn't able to verify that because Travelers Advantage is a members-only website, but I'll take Rusin's word for it. However, the fact that you couldn't find the log-off option suggests the site is poorly designed. That's a problem quite a few travel sites are afflicted by. In their effort to sell as many airline tickets or hotel rooms as possible, they often overlook the small but important things, like placing a large enough "log off" button next to the enormous banner advertisement.

Rusin also told me that the log-off feature was essentially unnecessary because "when you exit the website, your session is automatically terminated." While this may be true, it's also possible that some of your personal information, such as your name, address, or credit card information, could remain on the machine if you don't leave the site or exit the browser.

The Travelers Advantage privacy policy is clear about how that data is handled and what you can do to stop it from being shared with others. Information stored as so-called "cookies" can be flushed from your browser "by adjusting your Web browser preferences, in which case you may still use our site, but it may interfere with some of its functionality." It also notes that its security precautions are far from perfect. "[D]ue to the inherent open nature of the Internet, we can not guarantee that communications between you and [Travelers Advantage] will be free from unauthorized access by third parties, such as hackers and your use of the travelersadvantage.com site demonstrates your assumption of this risk."

Translation: If someone else can see your credit card information, don't blame us.

In all fairness to Travelers Advantage, its privacy policy and other disclosures are pretty standard. I don't think Rusin and his company are misleading customers or being negligent about security. I just think you, like many travelers, probably took a few things for granted that you shouldn't have. For example, you assume that Travelers Advantage's highest priority in building a website is user-friendliness. It probably isn't. Instead, it's more likely concerned with what an old boss of mine used to call the "cha-ching" - the bottom line. Its site is built to turn shoppers into buyers.

You also took for granted that the rental machines at the Internet café you used would somehow contain additional security features. In fact, the café owner you argued with is probably more worried about-you guessed it-the "cha-ching." Had you paid an additional $8 for another half-hour, it's a pretty safe bet that you wouldn't have had to get the police involved.

If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't type any personal information on a PC that the public can access - whether it's at an internet café, library, or a shared computer at work.

Christopher Elliott's column appears on weekly on Ticked.com. All e-mailed questions to ChrisCrossings become property of Ticked.com and may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. You may reach Elliott at chris@ticked.com. Or visit his home page at http://www.elliott.org.