Technology is advancing forward at a super-fast rate. Back when I was a kid, my 1986 Talking Computron is considered high tech & cell phones were bigger than most rotary phones (think of the phone Zack Morris ran around with on Saved by the Bell). These days almost everything is digital and cats rule supreme on the Internet. It’s so common place to post selfies & current locations on sites like Facebook and Twitter that people forget that there are dangers of sharing too much personal info on the Internet.
First, don’t give out or post passwords or other very sensitive info. Companies are not going to send you an email asking for your password to a certain account. If you get an email like that, immediately report it as a phishing scam. Other scams include anyone emailing you ‘in good confidence’ about moving money overseas & asking for your bank account, that $1000 Walmart gift card you won & can’t receive it until you give them your social security number, and any other assorted ‘too good to be true’ emails. Giving your friends your passwords is just asking for trouble as well. They are then free to do whatever they want on your pages, like upload weird or embarrassing photos…or, if you have a falling out, post claiming to be you saying all sorts of stuff.
You should always make sure that your passwords are unique for each account and are not easy for someone familiar with you to guess. I use a random generator that I can adjust the variables on to create my passwords. It’s about the only way to keep them secure from all the people and programs that hack websites.
Second, if you don’t want people to see it, then don’t post it or email it. Cats might rule the Internet, much like they did ancient Egypt, but an embarrassing or nude pic will trump them any day of the week. The same goes for private conversations or even comments on articles or posts. Just look at how many ‘leaked’ nude photos of celebrities, royalty and government officials there are. Anthony Weiner is a perfect example. You might not be pretty, but there is always someone who wants to look at it. Plus, it wouldn’t take long for it to get back around to your social media accounts. I doubt that you want your mom to see pictures of you in your birthday suit pop up in her news feed. Matthew McConaughey and his bongos, yes! You, not so much…so don’t post it
Lastly, and most importantly, you should watch what info you post about yourself & your family…especially your children. If fact, all you need is a name & location and you can look state records on anyone. It would be easy for anyone to see where you work & where your children go to school at. You also don’t want to be posting your current location as well. If you are posting that you are out of town, you could be putting out a big neon sign for people to break into your house. You would be surprised at how often that happens. This isn’t just limited to posting text. Pictures can be a source of problems as well. Don’t post up pics of expensive items or showing the inside of your house. Again, you’re just begging for someone to break in. Also, did you know that most phones automatically embed GPS info into every picture and video you take? There programs available out there that can decode this info and easily tell where you are. It can even map out your daily routine. To keep this form happening, you have to manually disable it in your phone settings or cameras settings (it will vary depending on your phone).
There are tons of others things that you should put up online, but these are a few of the biggies. Keep them in mind the next time you go to share something. Also, remember that protecting your privacy is important, and you can get more info on how to protect yourself online by visiting Choose Privacy Week. There are hundreds of major companies involved in this campaign like SingleHop, who specializes in cloud computing and hosted IT infrastructure.
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