SARASOTA COUNTY - If you don't have a Facebook page, you might have a drug store discount card, or play online games. These things are convenient, they connect us with our friends and families, and they save us money. But if we're not careful, they can also be weapons for criminals to use against us.
There days many people share personal details about themselves on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We show people pictures of ourselves, our travels and our families. Some of us want people to know where we are, what we're eating and when it's our birthday -- and that's just what we share on purpose.
The conveniences of technology -- from credit cards and cell phones to social networks, store loyalty cards and online gaming sites -- create a digital trail that advertisers, stalkers and thieves can follow to learn more about you…and sometimes do you harm. And many people do nothing to protect themselves.
“You have to be very careful. Many times you're sharing information, you don't even think you're sharing information.” Sunita Lodwig teaches Information Technology at USF Sarasota-Manatee. That picture of you on vacation? It tells somebody you're not home. She says children, especially, often do not think twice about what they post on Facebook. “In 20 minutes, by just going to different sites, you can pull together a profile of a child…where the child lives, what school the child goes, the parents, the brothers and sisters, what time the child is alone at home -- all that information can be…20 minutes.”
Even things designed to keep our information online secure, like password reminders, can risk our security instead.
“And those are mostly password questions, too…where did your mother grow up? Where's your father from and where where you born? And people don't think, you put that down and answer honestly, and I answer all that incorrectly.” Eileen Horan is a privacy consultant who co-wrote the book
How To Disappear. She works to help people erase their digital footprints for the sake of their privacy, and sometimes, their safety. Don't put anything online, she says, that you would not tell a stranger. “Just be cautious. If someone knocked on your door and said, ‘hey, what's your phone number? Where was your mom born?’ You would say, get out of here, I'm not telling you that."
She says online, honesty is not always the best policy. “Instead of putting your mom's maiden name, use a code word that you remember, like ‘Bingo’."
Do you know where your personal information goes or how it's used? Why did Apple install tracking devices in its iPhones and iPads without telling anyone? And how did hackers steal complete user information, including credit card numbers, from 70 million Sony Playstation users?
“What if it falls in the wrong hands? Is this something I want everyone to see?” asks Lodwig.
