Buying Online
My mother refuses to buy anythinig online although for her, with limited mobility, the convenience would be immeasurable. Her concern is that she doesn't know what will happen to her information when she hits the submit button. Having ordered quite a bit online I'd like to reassure her and others that things are about as safe as shopping offline. While it's possible that someone could intercept the data en route most ordering sites use encrypted data. I wouldn't worry too much about the security of the data travelling to a site. If the site is of a reputable company rest assured they've taken secure steps. They want to maintain their reputation and not lose a customer. No, like shopping offline, the danger is when the company has the data. They can be hacked online. They can be snooped offline (la, la - look at the credit card number over the shoulder). The company can (will) sell your information either way.

So, Ma, it's OK to order online - really! And if you shop around online you can usually figure out a better deal than if you trudged around store to store. Look for when the shipping is free or at least less than the sales tax you'd pay.