Privacy Harbor™

Have you ever been walking down the street with a friend, talking loudly about an amusing personal story and then right as you got to the juiciest part you passed by a stranger on the street who happened to hear the whole thing? You probably didn’t think much of it since you didn’t know the person. But, what if later that day you went to a job interview and that same stranger who overheard your juicy conversation ended up interviewing you for the position? Talk about an embarrassing situation!

While this situation seems highly unlikely in a person’s day to day routine, this happens to people every day on the Internet. Juicy gossip and embarrassing stories about you, your friends and your family can get spread publicly across social media forums, profiles and message boards in plain view of employers, bosses, co-workers and other professionals. Ever wonder if the information you publicly posted about yourself might have cost you a new job or promotion?

There are no passing conversations on the Internet. Anything publicly posted about you will stay online, often in posterity for all of time – that’s why protecting your private information online is so important.

Some web users are under the misconception that the Internet offers the same privacy and protection as the “real world,” when in fact there are very few laws regulating one’s rights to online privacy. A recent article from the Japan Times by Bruce Schneier called, “Offhand but on Record” covers the top privacy concerns with today’s popular social media websites and the advertising partners that support them. Schneier calls for “comprehensive data privacy laws, protecting our data and communications regardless of where it is stored or how it is processed,” but stricter laws alone will not save users who continue to publicly post sensitive information.

Privacy education is the key. If you are going to use social media websites and blogging tools like Facebook, Twitter or WordPress, be aware of the content you publicly post and make sure you set your privacy settings to block sensitive information from public view. When using job boards and career networking websites like Jobdango or LinkedIn, make sure that your resume and profile are up-to-date and don’t contain errors, typos, or other information that could disqualify you from your future job or promotion.

There is a useful article on the, “10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know” that can provide social media users with additional tips to protect their privacy online while still utilizing social media websites.

As Internet technologies continue to expand the mining and sharing of information, online privacy will continue to be a growing concern. The best way to maintain your privacy online is to use social media and networking sites with caution and to spread the word about privacy concerns with other professionals online.

Tags: bruce schneier, conversation to, electronic eavesdropping, Facebook, jobdango, linkedin, private email, public information access, rights privacy, secure email, secure webmail, social media work, wordpress

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 6:46 pm and is filed under Internet Privacy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.