NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, April 2011
Tips for Ensuring Your Privacy on the Internet
By Dick Maybach
n2nd@charter.net
(click to email author)

When posting information to the Internet, keep three things in mind:
1. you can’t restrict where it will go;
2. you can’t restrict who will see it; and
3. it will stay there forever.

If you want to keep something private, don’t post it.

In the old (pre-Internet) days, if something you told a friend in confidence became public, it was his word against yours. It’s much harder to deny a picture of you or an e-mail with your return address. Information about you is most commonly posted on your personal Web site, on social networks, such as Facebook, and on photo sharing sites, such as Flikr. Very few people would post their social security numbers or bank passwords, but you must also be careful with other data.

Be careful about disclosing information that could be used by an identity thief; this includes your birthday, address, and phone number. Although much of this is this is readily available, you don’t want to make a thief ’s job easy. Your strategy here is like that of locking your car and house; it’s not difficult to break into these, but if your neighbor doesn’t lock up, he provides an easier, more attractive target.

Keep personal data private Don’t forget that many banks make available hint questions to “help” you if your forget your password, so you should not disseminate personal data used in the hint questions, such as your mother’s maiden name, your high school, your pet names, etc. You should avoid taking the quizzes offered by some social websites, as they often ask the same questions about your personal life that are used in password hints.

Don’t advertise when you will be away, even for a short time. The time to talk about your cruise or a concert is after you return home. You wouldn’t put a note on your door saying that you will out for several hours or days, and you certainly don’t want to do this on the Internet, where the information is available to many more people.

Protect you children. Don’t disclose their names, ages, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, or where they attend school, especially if you show their pictures. Small children should not have a computer in their bedroom; instead it should be in a public area of the house where you can check on their on-line activities. If your children have a social Web site, insist that you be a “friend” and check it often. This has to be done carefully, especially with teens, lest you appear to be meddling. However, since they already think you are a fossil, you probably won’t damage your reputation much.

Although it isn’t a privacy issue, don’t publicly criticize your company or boss. While we would like to think that our employers are tolerant, some aren’t, and an intemperate outburst could damage your career. This is especially true if your remarks could be interpreted as racial, religious, or sexual bias, as these could expose you to legal prosecution. Indeed, you will most likely regret any public tirade. At the least, it will make your friends think less of you. This also applies to e-mail. If you are really teamed, don’t mail it immediately but let it sit as a draft for a day; then read it carefully after you have calmed down.

Don’t disclose risky behavior Don’t disclose any risky behavior in which you indulge. If you like to smoke, drink, rock climb, race cars, explore caves, or hang glide, your insurance company could decide they won’t pay a future claim, because you failed to disclose the extra risks associated with such activities. As far as I know, they aren’t yet doing this yet, but why take the chance they might begin, say 20 years from now,

Be very careful about posting pictures of you or your friends in compromising situations. Young people are especially likely to be trapped by this. In the recent election campaign, some candidates had to live down pictures taken at parties when they were in their teens and twenties. This is a difficult problem, since cell phone cameras are now ubiquitous and such pictures are often published by “friends.” You can contact the Web site and demand that the offending material be removed, but a better strategy is to be careful in public.

Even though you never publish anything, information about you is splattered all over the Internet. For example, a search for “Dick Maybach” produces almost 600 hits, and because my name is unusual, most of the them are about me. If you have a common name, you can to some extent hide in the haystack; for example, “John Doe” produces almost 3,000,000 hits. However, even with a common name, adding a few details, such as your city (for example “John Doe” and “Middletown NJ”), will greatly improve the relevance of the results. If you find something to which you really object, you can contact the site and ask that it be removed, but success here is doubtful.

Finally, use the maximum privacy settings that your social networking site provides. In particular, limit access to your page to designated friends. Remember, that these sites make their money by disclosing your information to others. While it may be more convenient to use such sites than to send e-mails to friends, it adds substantial risk.

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