Privacy and Social Networking

With the invention of MySpace and the vast amounts of other social networking sites, the entire landscape of the Internet universe has changed forever. People freely connect with long lost companions or meet new people that share similar interests, allowing a once distant community to come together. This great power also assumes many risks. Many people join social networking sites and openly post personal information such as birth dates, or post photos of their personal lives. A new breed of criminal has also evolved with social networking; one that can break down privacy barriers and research their prey by visiting their MySpace of Facebook pages and learning just about everything they could ever want to know. Aside from criminal activity, employers and government agencies also use the information found on peoples’ social networking pages against them. Many companies screen their employees based on what they find on their profiles, including photos and personal information that is considered inappropriate. Even though it does not directly affect the way an employee performs his or her job, hiring managers are wary to hire someone who does not fit the company profile.

Maintaining your privacy and avoiding identity fraud are not difficult things to accomplish, but do require some common sense. Many people post more information than needed, letting people know everything possible without having to even know who this person is. It is always important to know what information should actually be posted. Nothing can ever be deleted from the Internet, so any embarrassing photos are lurking somewhere. One of the main rules for social networking privacy is to provide just enough information. You want your friends to be able to locate and contact you, but you don't need to put your entire life story so that anyone with a PC can learn everything about you. Users should also make their profiles private so that only people you have befriended can view the information and photos. Some sites allow networks of people to view your information, but a user should consider limiting their private information just to their friends. Be wary when adding external applications. For the most part do not add any. If you have already installed some, be sure to keep only the ones you actually use on a consistent basis. These apps are developed by outside parties that have no affiliation with the site, and most likely lack any sort of privacy policy. Even if the site or application does have a privacy policy, it should be checked frequently for any changes that may concern you. Also, do not use the same password for your social networking profiles that you would to access your e-mail or any sites that contain personal information, such as banking sites. Finally, and most importantly, one should never assume something posted on the Internet is completely private; if someone wants the information badly enough, they will find it.