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The Essentials to Staying Safe
Online.
Be Smart, Be Safe, But Don't be
Left Behind!
Protect Your Privacy Online
The Social Networking Safety page tells briefly of things
to do for safety in social networking sites. The other pages in
this web site give more detail of what to do for online safety
for each topic.
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Keep your personal information private
Only add friends you know in real life
Set your page and blog to private
Use a nickname that doesn't identify your location, gender, or age
Use a disposable email (hotmail, yahoo, ZoEmail, Emailias, Spamex, Spamgourment, 2Prong, Ed4ward)
Never meet in person with anyone you have first met online
Alter your pictures before you post them to remove identifying information
Profile and photo share only with people on your friends list
Don't post your plans or whereabouts on your site
Ignore harassing or rude comments posted on your profile
Think about the possible consequences of the information and photos you
post
Never post sexually provocative photos
Educate Yourself
Become familiar with your social networking site:
- Read the Privacy Policy
- Read the Terms of Use
- Locate your privacy settings and adjust them to fit your needs
Check the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use from time to time to see if your social networking site has changed them.
Be Careful about the Information you post
- Respect others: do not post sensitive information about your friends without their permission
- Use a different password for your social networking sites than for other sites
- Think
carefully whether you would want the information you post on social
networking sites accessed and used in other contexts (ie. a job
interview)
- Consider using a pseudonym
Adjust Your Privacy Settings
Most
of the social networking websites have privacy settings. In some cases,
it is appropriate to leave your information open to the public – for
example, if you are promoting your business or art. However, for more
personal uses of a social networking site, it is appropriate to limit
who has access to your information. Carefully choose privacy settings
to limit your exposure accordingly. If you are receiving unsolicited
messages, you may block the sender using your privacy settings. It is
also a good idea to notify your social networking provider of any
threatening or suspicious behaviour that you may encounter. Lastly, if
your social networking site profile has been hacked into, change your
password or delete the account altogether.
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A definition and history of Social Networking:
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html co-written by danah m. boyd a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Information at the University of
California-Berkeley and a Fellow at the Harvard University Berkman
Center for Internet and Society. Her research focuses on how people
negotiate mediated contexts like social network sites for sociable
purposes.
Privacy Complaint Filed Against Facebook - June 2008 - CIPPIC's complaint alleges 22 separate violations by Facebook,
including its failure to inform Facebook members of how their personal
information is disclosed to third parties for advertising and other
profit-making activities and its failure to obtain permission from
Facebook members to use their personal information.
An example of implications of Facebook regarding Privacy and Right to a Fair Trial:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/01/04/rengel-facebook.html
Beware Facebook's Beacon:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/hightech/facebook-beacon.html
Facebook Phonies:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/internet/facebook.html
Quote from a blog about facebook:
"What is not healthy on the websites are the false accusations, the
gossip, the libelous actions, and the innuendos that permeate some of
the sites. Those in middle school seem to be the worst at this. In
righteous indignation they name those who are accused of crimes, or are
taken in for questioning. They do not understand or respect the legal
system in which we are presumed innocent until proven guilty. In small
communities everyone knows the names of those involved and rumours
spread regarding what is happening. The conversations can turn
vitriolic and they recommend violent answers to the murder and demand
violent retribution for those who have unfairly passed away. "
Criminal Investigations in Canada and Social Networking: (here)
Differences between SNS users and Non Users:
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/hargittai.html
Illusion of privacy give users a false sense of security and could lead to Phising attacks:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/04/13/tech-facebookphishing-20070413.html
Facebook, MySpace are great resources for scammers:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/12/18/bc-bbbtoptenscams.html
Facebook has a problem with Trust:
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2008/01/your_take_roundupfacebook_has.html
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