This is the age of social web. It gets scary to see how much personal information people have put forth on such social network sites such as Orkut, Facebook and MySpace.

Imagine if your personal information can find way into the computer screens of baddies, the consequences will be unimaginable. Am I scaring you? Not at all. Just follow some news items.

Who has the responsibility for protecting you online? The answer is not a firewall program or your ISP. You should protect your privacy – You are responsible for your online safety.

What you can do to protect your privacy?

1. Use nicknames only.

2. Create an email-id to sign-up for newsletters / social networks.

3. Check if an E-business site is Verisign secure (Click on the logo and verify it).

4. Post only thumbnail photos.

5. Never tell your personal information. E.g. Real date of birth.

6. Don’t tell everything (share your personal problems) about yourself to an online friend. Wait until you gain some trust.

7. Do not think everyone is good.

8. When someone asks for your postal address, ask why?

9. If someone is offering free money, then there is something wrong.

10. Do not blog your personal details.

from Geek And Poke’s Future of Web by Oliver Widder

Related Readings:
EFF’s Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy – very exhaustive, lists some online tools and services that help you to protect your privacy.

CDT’s online guide to online privacy: Top Ten Ways to Protect Privacy Online

Get safe Online – an expert blog that has excellent blog posts, tips and resources on being safe online.

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