Today (28th) is Data Privacy Day!
Yes, it’s a real day.
A day to reflect on what information is known about you by others via the Internet, and understanding how that can affect you in the real world.
Whether it be understanding the online crimes that can exploit your information, the embarrassing situations you can encounter by sharing too much information, or even how online privacy can affect your employment chances, it is vital to know that almost every aspect of your life can be significantly impacted by the information YOU choose to share on the Internet.
In honour of Data Privacy Day (or Data Protection Day in Europe) here we outline some important articles related to privacy that we recommend everyone reads.
Sharing too much information can be detrimental to your job prospects. More and more employers will look you up on social media before considering you for a job. Does the public settings on your social media accounts make for a good CV?
Read more… Why Facebook’s Open Graph Search can be a Job Seekers Worst Nightmare
With the rise of social media, libel (the written form of slander) it is easier than ever before to be held accountable for your online actions. Libel can potentially be serious and can result in big fines. This is no better demonstrated than when online unfounded witch-hunts go viral, which can lead to thousands of users sharing unverified and false information, potentially opening themselves up to libel.
Read more… http://thatsnonsense.com/blog/trial-by-facebook-dangerous-trends/
Being lax with your online privacy can even get your house robbed, as people have found out in the past.
Read more… Don’t Broadcast Your Vacation Plans this Christmas
Everything you share on Facebook, no matter how innocent it seems, is a potential nugget of information to an identity thief. By themselves, they are often worthless. But when accumulated and put together, they can often allow a criminal to obtain email accounts, social media accounts and accounts on sites like eBay and PayPal. This can lead to a criminal taking over your banking accounts and even acquiring fake identification in your name!
And it all starts from small, innocent information! Identity theft through social media often takes this type of route, so always be careful what information you share online and always monitor who you share it with!
Some more privacy related articles for you…
3 Things you probably didn’t know about Facebook privacy and probably should.