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New NetSafe research indicates that half of NZ teenagers post sensitive information about themselves on publically available webpages and mobile phone chat rooms.

Coinciding with the Privacy Awareness Week, these preliminary findings are from the NetSafe Convergence Generation research project which explores the experiences of approximately 1,700 high school students around New Zealand. The findings reveal that one out of two teenagers surveyed reported having posted sensitive information about themselves in public online spaces in the past year (including social networking profiles set to be “open” to the public).

High school students reported posting a range of sensitive information on ‘open’ sites, including their:

•    Instant messenger ID or email address (30%)
•    First and last name, OR their first name and a recognizable picture of themselves, and anything (like pictures, stories, or comments) that they wouldn’t want someone who didn’t like them to find. (30%)
•    Mobile phone number (14%)
•    Home address (3%)

Findings show that while half of the young people surveyed manage their public identities well, the half of them are posting sensitive information in public places – which has the potential to create issues for them in the future says John Fenaughty, NetSafe Research Manager.

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