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How to Protect Your Privacy Online

A lot has been said about your privacy online. More and more people are getting victims of phishers, scammers and identity thieves in a range of privacy violations from getting embarrassing status updates put up on their social networking sites, to downright criminal acts like unauthorized use of credit cards and money getting stolen from the victims’ Paypal accounts or online bank accounts.

Here are the top 5 ways to protect your privacy online.

1. It is not limited to social media networks.
When talking about online privacy, social media sites like Facebook and MySpace immediately come to mind. While they are the most prevalent sites that identity thefts and other cyber criminals use to carry out their crimes, they are not the ONLY sites. You could get in trouble using e-mail, backing up your files online, or even through searching.

This is not to say that you should go lax with your privacy on social media sites, it is just the opposite: you should safeguard the personal information you have on your social media sites because they could be used for other sites as well.

To do this, you should use the site’s privacy option, which effectively makes your profiles invisible to people who are outside your contacts list. You be careful on adding people to your contacts list as well. If a stranger asks you to add him or her to your contacts list, think very carefully before you click that approve button.

Further, you should not post private information online, or information that would tell people where you would be at a particular day and time. Nor should you post pictures, blogs, and other content that may be deemed offensive, racist or reveals too much about you or your life that it could be used against you at some later time.

Lastly, do not share personal information online. This includes that of your friends. There may be sites that ask you to refer a page to a friend, and if you like their page, chances are you will input not only your name and contact details, but your friends’ as well. When asked to sign up with your e-mail address, you might want to create a new one for use on these sites, protecting your primary e-mail address.

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4 Ways to enjoy a risk-free online social networking experience

Perpetrators of phishing, scamming and identity theft have found a veritable gold mine in social networking sites. All too often, users of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter inadvertently make themselves easy targets for these kinds of activities.

Here are four ways to protect yourself and your information online.

1. Always check your privacy settings.
While Facebook sets your privacy setting to your contacts by default, other social networking sites do not. In fact, some display your profile to the general public. Make sure that you make use of a site’s privacy settings to allow only your friends, family, loved ones and contacts to view your profile.

In line with this, do not add just anybody as your contact. If you are keeping a personal profile, then make sure that you only have people you personally know in your contact list. If you are on social networking sites to play online games, or to market your brand, it might help to create a separate account for this purpose. You can limit the amount of personal information you have on these accounts.

2. Think twice before you post something.
For one, do not post your hometown if this has been set as your secret password question. Make sure that your post does not have personal information in it, or other identifiers like a landmark near where you work.

In no circumstances should you announce where you would be at a particular time. This way, lurkers would not be able to pinpoint where you are at any time.

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Privacy Risks with Social Networking Sites

Most of us are under the impression that social networking sites are safe havens for our thoughts, feelings and just about anything that we want to share with our friends, family and contacts. However, one must not forget that whatever you put online is up for the whole world to see, not just your close friends, family or coworker.

As such, we have seen “scandal” photos taken off people’s MySpace, Facebook and other social networking accounts circulating in the Internet.

Your best bet, of course, would be to be prudent about what information you make available online. Before you post photographs or blog posts, make sure that it is something that you are comfortable having your mother, spiritual adviser or boss read through your blog post or seeing these photos. If you do not think they will approve, better not post them.

This goes for relatively tame personal information. If you are planning a party, you might think that posting the details on MySpace is the easiest way to get the word out. You might indicate the time of the party and your home address in the invites.

On the day of your party, people you do not know show up at your doorstep or someone might obtain that address for other reasons. Make sure that you do not post personal information, such as your home address, mobile number, where you work, where you are going to be, online. This would only help strangers find you.

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Facebook's Privacy Policy from November 26, 2008 - Present.

The success of Facebook in harvesting millions of users in such a short span of time stirred the world with speculations on the effects of social networking sites.

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Friendster, My Space and Multiply have become popular because they provide venues for individuals to express themselves. Using these sites, users are able to design their pages with graphics, texts, videos and music that convey their thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Through these sites, users connect conveniently with other people from across the globe with whom they may share similar interests.

With the social networking sites’ emphasis on the individual and on expanding his network, the issue of privacy inevitably raises many eyebrows. The surge of social networking sites also triggered the occurrence of virtual crimes such as identity theft, and unlawful usage of personal information, to name a few. Along with the functional benefits and entertainment brought by these sites, pertinent privacy issues have also been rigging these virtual social circles.

Social networking sites are assured of privacy protection as provided in the privacy agreement between the user and the site made upon by the former’s registration.

These sites also have privacy options and settings that users can customize to control who can view their personal information. However, one of the problems of users is that the settings in some social networking sites do not offer enough flexibility. This causes unreliable information protection on the part of the users.

Facebook, for example, asks for basic personal information upon a new user’s registration. Users are asked to give two kinds of information:

1. those that the user wilfully provides to disclose and display on the site, and
2. those that the site collects in order for the user to use and interact through the site.

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It used to be that a company’s online marketing efforts consist of having a Web page, sending out e-mails, and advertising on high-traffic sites. However, in this age of social networking sites – like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace – these efforts are no longer enough!

Social networking sites have allowed businesses big and small to be more interactive in the way they present their companies, brands, products, and services. Online marketing has ceased to be a one-way street where the businesses do all the talking and hope that their potential customers listen and try out their goods and services. Interactivity has become the key feature of online marketing on social networking sites.

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