Privacy!

One of the questions that came up in the lecture was whether people are concerned about their online privacy being hacked, tampered with or used to get negative information. I am personally aware of the dangers with online privacy therefore I do not post anything I may regret on the social media sites I am signed up with, and if my friends post things that could get me into trouble at some stage later in my life, it’s deleted without a second thought. If someone were to take advantage of my Facebook profile and use the information I have provided to try and get me in some sort of trouble, they’d probably be quite disappointed with what they’d find (i.e. there’s nothing to snoop on).

There are some online privacy things that are very concerning, such as internet banking and using a credit card on the web, and some unlucky users are struck by credit card fraud and other such invasions of privacy. Even these can be controlled by the user them self having knowledge of how to avoid this situations, how scams appear and what to do if you get hacked.

The privacy statements on SNS are available for users to read, even if they are complex or lengthy. If people have a real concern about their privacy, they should read these statements and adjust their profile and settings to ensure their safety. Either that or just not sign up at all.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is that privacy policies are there for a reason: to be read/understood and used as a guideline for safety. People who are concerned about their personal information being leaked to whomever probably have something on their online profiles which must be hidden to ensure they obtain friendships or some sort of employment in their later life.