a survey conducted by emedia finds that almost two thirds (62%) of all users of social networking sites are worried about the safety of their personal information on these sites and to protect themselves, about one third of these users (31%) enter false information.
original image: tall chris
findings of this survey echo the results from an earlier study by pew internet & american life project, and the most important implication of both studies is the underlying mistrust that users have for social networking sites. as more people sign up for these sites and enter their demographic information as well as their likes and dislikes, these sites become highly valuable resources for data-miners who can ultimately sell this information to the highest bidder.
andrea simmons, consultant security forum manager at british computer society comments, “as we become citizens of cyberspace and with social networking sites making details of members visible through public search engines, we need to learn how to use privacy settings in better ways and use computers safely.”
social networking sites certainly make it easy to stay in touch with co-workers, friends, and family, but the fact that they can be abused by employers, marketers (pdf), and even by the government, is limiting many from enjoying the benefits. at the same time, i’ve always implicitly trusted some networks more than others - for example, i trust linkedin the most, then facebook, and don’t trust myspace at all.
how safe do you feel, how honest are you, and how much do you reveal online?
Technorati Tags: social networking, linkedin, facebook, myspace, online, privacy, data-mining
I certainly wouldn’t trust Mint with my bank data 😉
I also don’t trust Facebook with my Gmail account, because it is tied to Adwords and Adsense.
I think I lean toward the more paranoid side of online anonymity. This inevitably causes difficulty because I struggle to remember a zillion different passwords, birthdates, etc. for the websites I frequent.
And I have read pretty persuasive cases for embracing your real identity online. Perhaps it’s just not in my nature.
i’m with kate on this one … i have so many names, nicknames and pen names that i sometimes forget who i am online. however, in a few cases this has been a boon, particularly as one of my multiple personalities has been known to run of its mouth and get me into trouble 😉
@ Andy: Agree on Mint - I do think they would be better off as a software offered to banks for distribution to end users than as a stand-alone online (!!!) app.
As for the networks, it is better to think of what you would not want to be known to general public about yourself before typing it into the respective field in your profile.
I always think like a journalist or a writer, just write what you would publish in a newspaper or book and just enter the data you think are useful without harming you. When you disclose which books or movies you like you are already giving away precious data, that’s why the US government monitors libraries and what people read.
When I write something about myself online I ask myself if I’d tell it to a stranger at the bus stop. If not, I refrain from writing it. I wouldn’t *lie* about things, I just wouldn’t mention anything that I wanted to keep private. I believe that in order to build relationships with ppl you have to give a little of yourself first.
I’m probably a bit too trusting in terms of personal information (name, city I live in, etc) but with passwords and such, I hold back a bit more.
Another aspect that you mentioned is co-workers. It’s important to remember that what you do and say can be found by people you might not expect, such as bosses or supervisors etc.