Sir - Our society is now so enlightened, tolerant and advanced that commercial organisations can contact customers directly by e-mail, offering commodities that are not subject to petty legal or moral scruples. Over the past couple of years I have been tempted with delights ranging from how to trace female drivers (from their car registration plates) to the invaluable skills of slowing down or stopping gas, electricity and water meters.
Here are some of other alluring items. Find out about the private life and habits of your colleagues and former spouses. Learn how to pick locks. Fox police speed-checks. Unscramble pay-TV programs. Reveal the text on letters in sealed envelopes using a quick-drying spray. Get unlisted phone numbers. Fool the software that marks students' exam papers. Reverse your "bad financial rating". Pass drugs tests. Make free long-distance phone calls. Get a chequebook in which the printed number of a genuine account dissolves shortly after writing the cheque, rendering it untraceable and unpayable. Finally (and they certainly know how to do this): send untraceable email.
As potential victims of the application of such knowledge, I think we should all be worried. - Yours, etc.,
Tony Blake, Summerfield Lawn, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.