Privacy

= = = = = = =**__Keep Your Information Private!__**= = = The internet would not be possible without information. Information is constantly being shared, spread, viewed and taken through WebPages, instant messaging, E-mail and regrettably, through illegal sources as well, every day. How do you know when information is being stolen from you? How can one prevent it? By giving away information about oneself on the web, one puts themselves at risk for said information being stolen. Depending on the information discovered about the person posting, the one posting may be at risk for anything from unwanted information being learned about them, to stalking to identity theft. There are several ways such issues can be prevented. Protect your privacy; find out how.

__How Your Information Can Be Gained & Used Against You__:
Just a little bit of information can be used to track you. Your information can be used against you in several ways, depending on what information you share on the web. When it comes to posting information about oneself, less is more in protection.


 * 1.)** Never post any inappropriate pictures, they reveal your appearance, making you easier to spot in a crowd. Even if the picture is not inappropriate, it is best to be careful about what is in the picture. Information about your appearance, your school, your friends and several other aspects of your life can be gained from pictures alone. Even if you do not post pictures of yourself or your friends, if you link your friends’ pages to yours and they do post pictures, the same information may be gained concerning you anyways.

//__Ex__:// If you have posted your name and have also posted a picture taken of yourself or your friends, and either they or you have a school-themed article of clothing on, a stalker/predator knows where they can find you, what you look like, and (from your or your friends’ websites/comments) what your name is.


 * 2.)** Just knowing a first name, an e-mail address, a phone number, a basic schedule of your life (such as posting what you did on any given day on MySpace etc…) and seemingly inconsequential details such as family members’ names, a predator can track down where you live, where you go to school, your whole families’ first and last names and where to find you at certain times of the day. Just by using basic posted information about someone’s life, a predator can track that person down, and stalk or kidnap them.


 * 3.)** Predators and stalkers are not the only threat on the internet. If you post cruel or mean things about other people on the web, just deleting these messages will not be enough to erase them from scrutiny. The Wayback Machine is a website that saves and catalogues every single page when it is updated. This means that even if you make your page private or change the page’s content, it’s original form and subsequent adjustments as time continued can still be viewed by sites such as the Wayback Machine in the future. Any incriminating posting you do now can and may be looked at by future colleges or employers.


 * 4.)** Besides the WayBack machine, other websites such as Google, MySpace, Facebook etc… also collect and save the posts or searches you make. Because you use these sites, said sites usually reverve the right to store, replicate, distribute or sell your information.


 * 5.)** Many people (especially teens,) use MySpace to talk to friends, talk about life and post interactive material. All people who have an account on the[[image:http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/images/archive/325_0.jpg align="right"]] website clicked the “I Agree to the Terms & Conditions,” box when filling out the account form, but very few people actually read what the terms for the usage of the site were. When one accepts the MySpace terms & conditions when making an account on the website, one automatically forfeits the ownership to any original material they may post on MySpace (poems, songs, artwork, verbal posts, and even pictures of themselves,) because after agreeing to the terms and conditions, said material falls under MySpace copyright, meaning that the site owners (not you,) would automatically own whatever material or information that is uploaded. That means they are within their legal right to replicate and sell what you created, as well as all information you posted, even if said posts are deleted or the account is closed. That means that if MySpace were ever to be sold to another company, that company would get all of your original material and information, and they would be able to use it however they wished.

The internet is not anonymous; very little of it is actually private. Just about all of your movements on the web are being tracked and stored by different programs, which means almost everything you do on the web, both good and bad, and from any given point of your internet career, can be traced back to you. You will be held accountable for it.

__How Can You Avoid Having Your Information Stolen__?
There are many aspects of the web to be wary of. It is possible for an unauthorized person to gain enough private information to cause serious damage by using base facts that many people do not think twice about posting. As such, one must be extremely cautious with what they post and who they talk to online.


 * 1.)** Never post your full name, your age, where you go to school, where you live (even the city or state,) your schedule, other contact information (AIM, MSN or e-mail,) or your family members’ names.[[image:Privacy_III.jpg align="right"]]


 * 2.)** Pictures of you, especially inappropriate ones, may attract the attention of potentially dangerous people. It would be wise to think twice before posting a picture of yourself.


 * 3.)** It is not recommended that you talk to strangers online. If you end up doing so, reveal as little about yourself as you can. Not only is it inadvisable to revealing information about yourself, it is also dangerous to post information about others. It could put both involved parties at risk.


 * 4.)** Consider the implications of the information you may reveal accidentally.

//__Ex__:// A screen name. Does it reveal your gender, age, interests, name or anything else that would hint as to your identity or residence? If so it can already lead to risk.


 * 5.)** Always read the Terms & Conditions of websites you are making accounts for. If you do not, you may not know what the website owner has right to. (See the MySpace example above, #5)

The best policy concerning posts about yourself is; the less information advertised the safer your online experience is likely to be.

The internet is an indefinitely useful, entertaining and informative source, but even it all of its enjoyment caution is still required to protect your personal life and information. There are many ways your information could be taken, replicated or abused, ranging anywhere from spam e-mail to identity theft, so indulge in preventive action; be careful about what you post or say on the internet. Protect your privacy.



=**__Other fun and informative sites on wikipedia.web__:**=


 * [[image:Privacy_VVII.jpg align="center" link="http://www.cis.udel.edu/%7Emasterma/"]] || == Cyber Bullying == || == Predators == || == Intellectual Property Theft == || == Viruses & Spyware == ||

Last Updated: 01/10/07 © Naomi N. & Alyssa M.