A few nights ago, too keyed up to sleep after teaching one of my Privacy, Safety, Security, Identity Theft and Asset Protection™ workshops, I lay in my hotel bed fully awake staring at the ceiling. I began to see shadows zip from one side of the room to the other and then disappear …The next morning when I awoke, I thought about the shadows and how they linked to the conversation I had had with a number of the participants in my class the night before as we discussed the internet and how everything ever posted online will always be there.
Do you remember being a kid and discovering your shadow; how it followed you but then disappeared when the sun went down or the lights went out? Remember how your parents comforted you by saying that shadows were not “monsters” waiting to attack once you fell asleep. Well, I hate to break it to you, but your parents didn’t know about digital shadows, the internet and how the text, images, sound clips and virtual material you cast today can disturb your sleep in the future.
With a memory better than an elephant, the internet serves as the best information retrieval and archiving tool ever created. It takes snapshots of our digital lives and stores them forever. When we log-on to the internet, we continually create our digital identities. We create official documents, consumer profiles, provide personal and professional opinions, share our political and religious beliefs, offer personal information and data that can be preserved and seen by friends, relatives, rivals, employers and potential employers, creditors, landlords, insurance companies, neighbors, and even identity thieves and perpetrators.
We cast online shadows through . . . mailing lists , forum posts, blogging, linking to others, sites we visit, searches we generate – we become a part of the big picture as search engines index us, tagging our stops, quotes and comments we leave on various sites. Our personal information and data is captured from our websites, articles we write, profiles we create on Facebook, Linkedin, Myspace, and videos we upload to Youtube, etc . . . all are a part of the tracks we leave and the shadows that follow.
Here are 8 important tips for managing your internet privacy and network security. You will be more likely to stop a digital predator if you remember these tips each time you use the internet.
1. There is no such thing as “anonymous surfing”
2. The internet has no rewind button and the delete button does not erase
3. You are not protected by anonymity on the web
4. What you did is done, and it will be remembered
5. Take responsibility for all that you do on the internet today — as you never know when you will see your shadow.
6. Before you “publish” ask yourself: Would you shout this message in a public place? Will you be happy dealing with the consequences?
7. Remember when you get “404: File Not Found”, it doesn’t mean that the information and data is gone; it just means that it can’t be located in the way you searched for it.
8. The First Amendment’s freedom of expression and association clause protects information about those with whom we associate (e.g., political groups and social organizations) and offers protections for the materials that we create, read, view, etc., in theprivacy of our homes, but does not limit others from seeing what we’ve made public record when we’ve communicated on the internet.
Realize that people in cyberspace are the same people you encounter every day in the physical world: neighbors, colleagues, people you pass on the street and greet in the stores. Use common sense and ask questions in your online environment as you would in your offline environment and digitally generate only those things that will not create “skeletons in your closets” or shadows from your past. The Internet is a new medium, as was the telephone more than a century ago. If you use it wisely, it can connect you to a world of people, ideas and information.
About the Author:
And now Ifida Known, “America’s Ambassador for Privacy, Safety, Security and Identity Theft Protection” invites you to get “Your Ultimate Guide to Privacy” (30 pages) FREE at http://www.powerofprivacy.com Read other articles at http://www.IfidaKnown.com Copyright 2005-2008 © Ifida Known Enterprises
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Tags: Network Security