In this day and age our information is everywhere online. It
is crazy how much information you can find out about someone online. By doing a
simple google search on my name, I found links to my Facebook, Twitter, and
Pinterest pages. But what was really shocking was the other information that is
posted about me. My complete work history is listed on zoominfo.com. You can
find my age, address and past addresses on whitepages.com. You can also find my
grandparents’, my father’s and my daughter’s obituary. The amount of
information just by one search is quite shocking.
I am an open book in most instances. I am not a private
person by any means, and tend to share a lot of information about myself. I’m
the kind of person that usually updates my Facebook status at least once a day.
I used to use the app Foursquare quite a bit, but my husband actually requested
that I stop using it for safety reasons. After I listened to his reasoning, it
did make sense. When I was checking in at locations, I was basically telling
anyone that wanted to know that I wasn’t home, and could make us an easy target
for someone to break into our house. Also, if someone wanted to harm you – they
easily could know where you were at any given time.
If our information gets into the wrong hands, it can be
detrimental in many different ways. According
to (Milian, 2010) there are five easy things that people
can do to help protect their identity on line. They are:
1.
Adjust
social-network privacy settings
2.
Ensure
personal data is sent over a secure connection
3.
Consider
opting out of ad tracking
4.
Use
private Web browsing features or install a VPN
5.
Think
before you post
A person should be careful not to overshare on social
networking sites. Posting too much
information about you can open yourself up to identity theft. A potential identity thief can find
information about your life, use it to answer ‘challenge’ questions on your
accounts, and get access to your money and personal information. Never post
your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, or account
numbers in publicly accessible sites.
According to (Consumer information - keeping your personal informaiton secure, 2012), the things you need
to do to protect your identity are:
- Keep your personal information secure offline
- Keep your personal information secure online
- Securing your social security number
- Keeping your devices secure
A few ways you can protect your identity offline is by never
carrying your social security card with you. If your purse or wallet gets lost
or stolen, your social security card could end up in the wrong hands. Make sure to always shred receipts, credit
card applications, insurance forms, bank statements, and any other kind of
document that reveals personal information.
Securing your information online as well as keeping your
devices secure is also very important.
Never open email attachments or files where you don’t know the sender.
You should always have up to date anti-virus software installed to avoid
infections that can compromise your data. Make sure to log out of your
programs, especially on-line banking and bill pay, when you are done with the
program. Never share your passwords with anyone, and make sure they are
different for each application or program you use.
Often times you’ll be asked for your social security number.
Whether it is online or in person, many places ask for your social security
number. To protect yourself, you can always ask if you can use a different kind
of identification. If that is not an option, ask them how your number will be
used, and how they plan to protect it.
Works Cited
Consumer information - keeping your personal
informaiton secure. (2012, July).
Retrieved from Federal Trade Commission.
Milian, M. (2010, December 13). 5 tips for
controlling your privacy online. Retrieved from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/12/13/5.online.privacy.tips/index.html
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