BREACHED!!!
For the first time in 8 years of online transactions, I’ve had a company contact me to inform me that my personal information including credit card number had been compromised.
From Cochlear Corp:
It appears that a professional “hacker†has accessed customer information within our web store at www.cochlearamericas.com, Although we do not yet have all of the facts, it appears that the following customer information has been compromised: first name, last name, credit card number, credit card expiration date, shipping or billing address, email address and phone number. We have no evidence that the “hacker†intends to use this information to commit credit card fraud, but for your safety, we must assume the worst until we learn more.
To protect yourself from the possibility of credit card fraud, we recommend that you immediately contact the company that issued the credit card you used to make purchases at our web store. Tell them that your account may have been compromised and that you wish to cancel it.
Now, you might say that it sucks to be me and overlook this… But how broad and wide this security compromise is being downplayed a bit. Cochlear manufactures the Cochlear Implant — a “bionic ear” that allows the deaf to hear. Cochlear is also the only sales company for several pieces of support hardware and accessories for COchlear Implant users as well as ABI users (which I am).
I canceled my credit card last night, and no telling how many have to do so today.
Coupla questions: Do you have a cochlear implant? You mentioned your hearing loss before – how does this work? Are you completely deaf without it? I’m fluent (but slow) in ASL. Do you know ASL at all? I used to go to Silent Dinners in college and had the best time! I really liked everyone I met in the deaf community. They were hard core though – didn’t want their deaf children getting implants, hated “hard of hearing” or “hearing impaired” because it indicated what they are NOT, they preferred “deaf” because that’s what they *are*, big advocates of the deaf learning ASL and not pidgeon-signed English and all that noise. Totally loved them. Several were graduates of Galludet (spelling?) and rallied for a deaf president. Your thoughts?
Anyway, sorry to ramble. My students are taking a test. 😆
Yeah, I got a variation of the Cochlear Implant, Kate, called the ABI. I had sugery to remove a tumor in my head in 1997 and the cochlea was removed… The Cochlea is what makes the Cochlear implant work. The ABI — Auditory Brainstem Implant — goes right to the brainstem.
I’m totally deaf without it. I’ve been deaf since 1997. So I’m “Late Deaf”.
I never got into the deaf community because I felt if I did, I’d be closing out one world for another. Not just that but what you cite about the hardcore deaf people — well, it bothered me. Bothered me a ton. There was a lot of it — aborting babies if they were going to be born with hearing, ill treatment of hearing people trying to come into their inner circle and such — that just went too far for me. I mean, that’s there culture, I guess. I respect that but the resentment and the… bigotry? Intollerance? I don’t know if those words are too strong to describe some of them but whatever the case – it was just too much for me.
Barely know sign…. I know the ASL alphabet and a select few words but that’s it.
So with ABI you hear fine?
I wouldn’t say “Fine.” I hear, which is better than deafness, but conversations can suck — meaning I won’t understand people. I HEAR them but understand is another thing entirely. And if I’m in a noisy place? Fohgettaboutit.
But I can listen to music, hear the TV and occassionally beat out the closed captions…