Protect Your Online Privacy- Part 2

At the beginning of this series, we were talking about the importance of protecting your privacy and being thoughtful about what information you choose to share on social networking sites. It is interesting to note that Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook was recently embarrassed when some instant messages he sent to a friend were made public. I can't post them here, due to some questionable language, but in the messages he openly brags about how much information he has on people. When the other person asked him how he got all that information, he says that they "trust him" and he goes on to make a derogatory comment about how stupid the people are for trusting him with their information. I think that says a lot about how he feels about protecting the security and privacy of user's information.

There is this persistent illusion of trust that happens on the internet. There are a few things that you need to know about the companies you give your information to:

• They do not have your best interests in mind- Companies that collect and store your information aren't looking after you, they are trying to make money. When you connect to other sites with your Facebook or other social networking account, you are letting them follow you around and take notes.
  
  
• You are creating a record- It becomes easy to find out more about who someone is when they are connecting their shopping, web surfing, reading and video renting habits to one social networking site. This record then follows you around and could easily be misused. Things that don't seem like they are that important can be misused by someone who doesn't like you. It isn't hard to take some information and re-frame it in a way that make you look bad. And you would have no recourse.
  
  
• When you post information, you give away the rights to it- Take a look at Facebook's privacy policy and read through all 5,830 words. You will be shocked to find out that although the service is free, you have given Facebook the rights to all information you post, and pictures or other media you publish, the sites you connect with. All of it. Once you post it, you can delete it from your profile, but they still own it. Forever.

My point is this, be careful when you post information online. Social networking can be an invaluable business tool and a it can be a great way to interact with your friends. Just, don't let yourself be blinded by the shiny pages and easy to click buttons. Just like you wouldn't go up to a stranger in the supermarket and tell them your full name, give them your cell number, pictures of your kids, your address and tell them about your week long vacation and when you are leaving, you shouldn't do it online. Protect your privacy in the digital world just as diligently as you would in the face to face world.

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By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.