Computer Support Blog

This is the second in a series of articles by RESCUECOM in which we discuss several important online privacy issues.  This article will indicate the privacy concerns surrounding social networking websites and provide advice on how to protect one’s privacy while using them.

Social networking websites have become a part of daily life for the majority of adults around the world.  Major news outlets often do reports based on information from sites like Twitter.  Celebrities and public personalities all have social media profiles on numerous sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr.  People use sites like LinkedIn to make professional connections and even search for jobs.  Social media permeates every aspect of people’s lives.  In many ways, this has been beneficial.  It has increased convenience in day-to-day life for many people, made it easier to keep in touch with friends and family members who live far away and helped people keep up with current events through their social networking feeds.  However, there is a darker side to social networking that not enough people consider when they use these sites—the invasions of privacy that they enable.

One thing that not many people consider about the nature of social media is how much it has changed people’s perceptions of the Internet and how people should behave when using it.  Before Facebook was a prominent aspect of people’s lives online, it was common to hear advice about not giving away your personal information on the web.  Profiles on most online communities worked around the concept of remaining anonymous.  People used aliases and usernames on message boards and only gave out information about their personal life if they felt comfortable.  Now, with social networking, many people do not consider it strange to post elaborate details about oneself online publicly.  This change in behavior makes it far easier for people to learn a significant amount about others online without their permission.  It’s especially easy if someone does not have strict privacy restrictions on their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles.  Maintaining an anonymous identity online used to be common.  Now, others can find your information more easily than ever thanks to social media.  It is always best to be especially careful about what you place online, even on social networking sites, due to this new reality.

Users should also be aware of phishing attempts that try to trick people into giving away their login information for different sites. Since so much personal information is on people’s social media accounts, a criminal gaining access to them through one of these phishing schemes could be devastating.  People should never give away their account passwords online, under any circumstances, to avoid these issues.  If someone feels that a phishing scheme has succeeded in attacking his or her account, he or she should contact a tech support provider to help immediately.

Other individuals on the web are not the only people who can invade your privacy more easily thanks to social media.  Corporations and other companies can now access your personal information with less trouble as well.  Google, Facebook and numerous other sites collect and store the information people post in their profiles in order to help companies advertise more efficiently on their sites.  Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Tumblr all target users with specific types of advertisements based on their activity on the site.  These companies use the personal information shared on social networking to attempt to manipulate users with these targeted advertisements.  However, what is even worse is that the massive amounts of personal data collected for this purpose remain stored on companies’ servers for long periods of time.  Hackers have broken through corporations’ security in the past and stolen massive amounts of user information from their servers to use for nefarious purposes.  There are even concerns about how social networking companies will handle people’s personal information themselves.  Facebook recently came under public scrutiny for performing a social experiment through their website that utilized users’ personal information without their consent.

Fortunately, there are ways to protect oneself online when it comes to social media.  Do not post any information publicly on any sites that you would be uncomfortable about strangers reading. Check your settings consistently to make sure your profiles aren’t easily visible to anyone with whom you don’t want to share information.  Whenever you hear that a social network that you use has changed their terms and conditions, make sure you know what those changes are and that they do not negatively affect your privacy.  If a change does negatively affect your privacy, delete your account and speak out online against the policy to increase public pressure on the company to reverse its decision.  It is also prudent to have an Internet security solution with strong online privacy protection that can help prevent social networking sites from tracking your online activity.  The RESCUECOM Internet Security Suite has advanced settings that can help keep you safe when using social media online.

Social media privacy is a very serious issue that everyone should be aware of when using sites like Facebook and Twitter.  To receive more important information about online privacy concerns, please subscribe by email or RSS feed to the RESCUECOM Blog by clicking on the buttons to the right of this article.  Subscribing will keep you up to date on important information affecting the use of your personal technology.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

Media Relations
pr@rescuecom.com
1-315-882-1100

Filed under: technology