Online privacy is an issue in today’s society that many people do not take serious enough. Often times internet users put information about themselves online without even thinking about it. People sign up for things online daily that require a full name, address, age, security questions and other similar sorts of information. Email accounts, social networks, online coupons, ITunes accounts, University databases and blogs are just a few examples where detailed information is requested.
I think people should be concerned about their privacy online in order to protect themselves, family and friends. Facebook has a new feature that allows people to post where they are, who they are with and what they are doing. For example, I could tag my mom and brother eating dinner at our house. Internet users would then know where I live, who I am with and what we are doing. Privacy goes completely out the window in this situation and allows predators more than enough information to harm someone or stalk them.
Companies and spammers can gain information about us with the click of a button so it is important to be modest when putting personal information online. The dangers of being too personal online include identity theft, stalking, and sometimes gaining passwords to important things. People need to be cautious every time they sign up online for something and think about if it is completely necessary. If we keep ourselves more private online we are protecting ourselves and others who we are connected with online. Think about things you have signed up for within the last week, was it completely necessary? Did you put more than the required fields? Have you tagged yourself at a place on Facebook that could put you in a harmful situation or give up someone else’s privacy?
Some of my friends and I actually were talking about this concept a week ago. Sometimes it’s not even your fault, if someone tags you at a place you might not even realize that it was done for a while and now someone can see where you are and who you are with. It’s like; maybe I don’t want anyone to know that I’m at that particular place. People are just trying to stay too connected in today’s world.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if companies are finding more and more ways to get information out of you. If they are not outright asking for your personal information then they are like Facebook and making it seem trendy to dish out your exact location. It is unfortunate that to even sign up for a lot of online things you basically have to tell them your life story.
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