What type of information should go on an email, or on a private message and not on a wall post?

noviembre 22nd, 2010 · No hay Comentarios

Internet privacy forms a subset of computer privacy. On the one hand, a number of experts within the field of Internet security and privacy believe that privacy doesn’t exist; “Privacy is dead – get over it” according to Steve Rambam, private investigator specializing in Internet privacy cases. On the other hand, in his essay The Value of Privacy, security expert Bruce Schneier says, “Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we’re doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance.

Social networking sites have become very popular within the last five years. With the creation of Facebook and the continued popularity of MySpace many people are giving their personal information out on the internet. These social networks keep track of all interactions used on their sites and save them for later use. Most users are not aware that they can modify the privacy settings and unless they modify them, their information is open to the public. On Facebook privacy settings can be accessed via the drop down menu under account in the top right corner. There users can change who can view their profile and what information can be displayed on their profile. In most cases profiles are open to either “all my network and friends” or “all of my friends.” Also, information that shows on a user’s profile such as birthday, religious views, and relationship status can be removed via the privacy settings. If a user is under 13 years old they are not able to make a Facebook or a MySpace account, however, this is not regulated.

It is important to remember that kids are usually more vulnerable in Internet that adults, as it can be seen in The Journal research showed that the top 50 kid-centric Web sites installed an average of 30% more tracking cookies, beacons and other pieces of tracking technology than did the top 50 adult-targeted sites. The Journal also found that some companies were openly selling the information they got from this tracking.

In conclusion, there is some private information that you have to be carefull with, in order to do not disclose information such as financial account, address and so on. When you need to send this kind of information you should send it through private message or email. Owing to this, only that person that you know and you trust will receive the information.

References: (16/11/2010)