Internet Privacy: Who knows what?

The Internet has revolutionized the way we live our lives.  Everyday, more and more daily interactions are done online and this trend does not appear to have any end in sight.  We use the Internet to pay bills, purchase goods, meet people, communicate with friends and family, get medical advice, share pictures, write blogs, get the news, etc, etc, etc.  But how secure is our personal information on the Internet?

Recently, law makers have been urging technology leaders to help establish ways to keep the public’s information more secure.  The White House just released their “National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace”, outlining their overall plan to protect the consumer. In general, the legislators feel that web users should be able to decide if they want their Internet actions tracked.  Popular companies, such as Google and Facebook, track your searches and other activities so they can provide you with advertisements that correspond with your online actions.  

 
Google currently places ads next to email messages received in their popular Gmail service.  The ads provide revenue for Google, which allows them to provide the Gmail service for free to the consumer.  According to Google, “Ad targeting in Gmail is automated, and no humans read your email in order to target advertisements or related information. This type of automated scanning is how many email services, not just Gmail, provide features like spam filtering and spell checking.”

Facebook attempts to make ads more relevant to its users through several ways.  One popular way is through the “Like” button feature.  When a user clicks on a “Like” button a connection is made with the item being liked.  Stories about the product, service, celebrity, or blog begin to appear on the user's Wall.  If the item runs ads on Facebook, your name may be shown to your friends as liking the item.  So, if one night you “Like” Jack Daniels Whiskey, your Facebook friends may start to receive notices that you like Jack Daniels hoping that they will, in turn, “Like” Jack Daniels too.  
 
Both Facebook and Google claim to not sell personal information.  I personally believe them because they both have too much to risk.  If the public felt used or violated by either company they could simply stop using their product.  Currently, both Google and Facebook know a lot about us.  They know our searches, the sites we visit, when we search, and with the help of mobile apps, they even know where we are!  What will happen to all of these data if either company goes out of business? Sure the companies don't currently sell the information, but what would happen to the collected data if either company ceased to exist? Who would get access to that information, and would it stay private or go to the the largest bidder?
 
Since avoiding the Internet is no longer a feasible option, we need to make sure that we familiarize ourselves with the privacy features of the products we use.  It is our responsibility to keep our information safe, not Google nor Facebook.

 

So how do we stay safe?  Below are 5 tips to help keep your personal information safe:

1. Don't share anything online that you don't want others to know.
2. If you do share information, become aware of the site's privacy settings.
3. Only use sites that allow you to limit who sees the information you share and limit it to family and friends.  If you share to a wider audience, be aware that the information could be used against you!
4. Use hard to guess passwords and change them from time to time.
5. Don't share information that is commonly used as security questions to sites.

Stay Safe!

  

Information provided by:         

www.mail.google.com/support
www.whitehouse.gov   
www.google.com/intl/en/privacy/
www.facebook.com/policy.php
www.wired.com

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