Remember the "good old days" where everyone was paranoid about giving away credit card information on the web? It was not long ago where most people are apprehensive about buying online and putting their credit card information on an unknown website. Today, we have swung to the other end of the spectrum where no one seems to pay attention to online privacy anymore. It is amazing how many people put their most lives online without thought of who might be reading them.
Lately, Facebook has been getting a lot of bad press lately about their privacy policies. I would like to remind you that Facebook, as a business, makes money by selling your information to advertisers. The only problem is that Facebook has been rather negligent about telling you that.
http://gawker.com/5544211/facebook-secretly-sold-your-identity-to-advertisers
Here are a few of things that you should already know but should be reminded:
1. Don't post information online that you wouldn't share in public in real life. Since the web is not as anonymous as you think it is, it is most likely that anything you say online can be traced back to you.
2. Always read the terms of agreement and privacy policy of the website you are using. Yes, I know it tends to be filled with paragraphs of text that makes your eyeballs go square, but try reading it anyway. Especially watch out for ownership of assets that you post. Many websites will claim that they have the rights to everything you post online, including images, text, videos etc. As a musician, these are things that matter to me. Why would I post music that I have painfully written only to be taken away by someone else for profit?
3. Show limited information to the public. Most social networking websites allow you to show less information to the public. That way, some information can be protected. You wouldn't want your boss to randomly see your drinking binge from last year, would you? Regardless, I refer you back to point #1.
4. Be careful of who you friend. There are just too many people who befriend everyone who request to join your group. Learn to say "no". You won't invite strangers into your house, why would you do that online?
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