electron zoo

The biggest recent story in the crossover news category of celebrity gadgets is Paris Hilton’s hacked Sidekick 2. I know, this is so a couple of weeks ago, but hey, I’ve been busy.

First off, as a gadget fan, I think it’s sorta cool that she has a Sidekick. It makes me think she’s a bit of a gadget affectionado when, according to a New York City blogger who chatted with her on the street, she tells strangers all about her (diamond-encrusted) Sidekick 2, saying “it’s way better than a Blackberry”. I can relate. (Although part of me wonders if that’s because you can’t get a diamond-encrusted Blackberry. Or perhaps because advertisements for Blackberrys don’t heavily use bright magenta like T-Mobile’s Sidekick ads do. But I will give her the benefit of the doubt — for now.)

But what actually interests me about the story isn’t Paris Hilton’s rich-party-girl star appeal or the Sidekick 2, it’s actually the lamest bit, being these lame, lame, lame “secret” questions that are supposed to keep our highly sensitive information secure. In the case of Paris Hilton’s supposedly secret answer that she kept with T-Mobile, the answer was Tinkerbell. For all you Celebrity Jeopardy fans, please answer in the form a question. “What’s the name of your favorite pet?” Ding.

What’s next? How many ID theives are trying to get into Chelsea Clinton’s personal accounts with her mother’s maiden name (Rodham, as in Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton) or wait a minute, don’t around five hundred people your age know exactly where you went a elementary school — because they were there too?

Next time someone gets “hacked” because a stranger guessed that their favorite color was purple, maybe they should point a finger at the telecom companies for allowing such insecure information to govern our privacy.