In today’s society with the growth of technology new media
comes with some positives and negatives. A few positives would be communication
with peers, staying in touch with up to date news, and online shopping. But the
main focus is what I believe to be the most dangerous thing people face when
using new media. Location services, cyber bullying, and false information are
just a few things that are negative about it. I believe the most important
thing people should be aware of is IDENTITY THEFT and FRAUD.
This is the most dangerous thing to me because people don’t
really think of the consequences when surfing on let’s say Twitter, Facebook, and
many other social media sites. Kent Lewis says “If you post that you’re out of
town on vacation, you’ve opened yourself up for burglary. If you mention that
you’re away on business for a weekend, you may leave your family open to
assault or robbery.” You may think everything is private but in true reality if
people want to access it or obtain something about you, well they can. Everyone knows not to share their social
security numbers or driver’s license but a lot of the information that social
media sites ask for can be used to steal your identity. For example:
- Full name
- Date of Birth
- Home town
- Relationship status
- School locations/graduation dates
- Hobbies, interests, and other affiliations
(Lewis)
Just those simple subjects can be used to compromise your identity
and a few examples on how it can be done:
- GPS-enabled phones that share your locations.
- False profiles can be used to fuel resume fraud or defamation of character.
(Lewis)
The only way this problem really can be solved is if a
person just doesn't use the internet but the best way to protect you from being
a victim is:
- Keep your social security and driver’s license number to yourself
- Try to create a username and password that would be tricky for each profile
- Change passwords regularly
- If you plan on being socially active in any form of social media just use less information about yourself.
- Try to not list your home town, DOB, HOME ADDRESS, high school/college, and primary email address
- Be careful of what you post
- Be sure to Google yourself regularly
o
If it’s hard to find you than that is positive
o
If you see yourself on the first page, well then
you can be easily attacked and need to change a few things.
People who are regularly active on new media sites need to
be aware on the proper way of using them as to protecting privacy and security.
This problem should be a big red flag in your head when using sites. IDENTITY
THEFT AND FRAUD is the most dangerous to people who are using new media!
Lewis, Kent . "How Social Media Networks Facilitate Identity Theft and Fraud ." How Social Media Networks Facilitate Identity Theft and Fraud | Entrepreneurs' Organization. Entrepeuners Organization, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://www.eonetwork.org/knowledgebase/specialfeatures/pages/social-media-networks-facilitate-identity-theft-fraud.aspx>.
I agree completely with the points in which you have brought up. People post too much personal information such as mention how excited they are to go on vacation or a trip. This can easily be accessed by someone looking to rob the place. They may not think of that because they don’t mention their address, but as you mentioned with the GPS on phones, someone can use Google Maps and see where their house is.
ReplyDeleteAnother point you brought up that I agree with strongly is the mentioning of hobbies, interests, and other affiliations as being dangerous. This may seem harmless to some but when you dive deeper into the details you realize that a majority of those things are what most people base their passwords off of. Whether it is their dogs name or their favorite team, they are allowing others access to this information without even realizing it. Even in some more drastic cases, mentioning their mother’s maiden name or something as an offhand comment such as “My great uncle is Benjamin Franklin being that was my mom’s name before she married.” It may not seem like much but this can be used to fill out credit card applications and other things which could potentially lead to harm.
All in all identity theft is a serious threat and it has become easier for thieves to commit this crime thanks to all the information we leave out there without thinking. I agree with you the precautions you brought up such as Google yourself and think twice before you post. Both of these can reduce your chance of becoming a victim to someone else’s heinous act.