Your personal info online
Social networking: Your personal information
Imagine this: you’re walking home from school one day and a complete stranger comes up to you and asks you for your phone number. Chances are you wouldn’t give it to them. Would you tell them your name? What about your address? Would you even speak to them at all?
Lots of the things we do online ask us to share our personal details. However, if you wouldn’t share your personal details with a stranger in the offline world, why would you do it online? Think of the internet as a whole land of strangers. You probably know a few of your online friends offline, but there are also a whole lot of people who are connecting to the internet that you don’t know. These people can see any personal details that you post about yourself.
What are personal details?
Your personal details are things like your name, address, phone number and the name of your school; any information that is special to you. Other people may share some of your details; for example, other people who go to your school, or are in the same league team as you. No one else in the whole world shares all of your personal details though – they’re unique to you!
Do the personal details quiz!
Here’s something fun to do with a friend, brother or sister or even your mum or dad! Do this quiz with a friend or family member. Once you’ve both finished, compare your answers and give yourself five points for every personal detail you have in common. If you score 0, then your personal details are very special and unique to you!
You’ll notice that the personal details you have in common are probably ones that a lot of people might share with you, like the colour of your eyes, the name of your school, or your favourite tv programme. Can you think of other people you could give the quiz to who might share the same personal details as you? Chances are you can’t think of many people (if any!) who would share some of your details, like your full name, your address or your birthday.
But why can’t I share my personal details online?
Because your personal details are unique to you, it’s a good idea to never share them with anyone online. When put together, any of your personal details can be used to find you. This can result in people stealing your identity, or even contacting you in the offline world.
Always check with your parent or caregiver before you share your personal information with anyone online.
| Top tips
There are some simple tips to remember when thinking about your personal details online.
• Things like listing your full name, your address, the name of your school or posting a full photo (showing your entire face and body) on the internet can make it really easy for anyone to find you in the offline world.
• Always carefully read the terms and conditions of the website on which you are thinking about posting your personal details. If they say that the details you give will be shared with other people or companies, think twice about doing it!
• Be careful about who you share your contact details with online. Contact details include things like your surname and address, mobile number, email or IM address. If you want to share these things with someone you meet online, always ask your parent or caregiver first.
• If you want to post your email address online (for example, to encourage people in an online community to contact you) create a new account on a free email provider like Gmail. Don’t use any personal details in the email address (for example, clair.smith@gmail.com is a no-no. An address like groovyartist@gmail.com is a much better idea as it doesn’t identify you)
• Be careful with the information you share about your hobbies, interests and clubs. This type of information can be used to find you.
• Take the same precautions about your friends and family’s information, and ask them to be careful about what personal information of yours they put online.
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