Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
“Going on a Panama cruise next week – finally taking a vacation!” Have you, your spouse, or your child ever posted anything like this on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare on your phone, your website or another social media website? Did you stop to think about how vulnerable this information makes you? You may think that only your close friends and family will access this information, but you can’t be sure that this is true. What if a stranger, an acquaintance, your teenager’s classmate or a distant friend-of-a-friend reads it and decides your house is an easy target for a robbery?
Think about what else you may post on these websites: pictures of you dancing the funky chicken at your cousin’s wedding, or pictures of your latest (Not-Safe-For-Work) Halloween costume. Has your son or daughter ever posted anything like this or maybe much worse? It may seem funny at the time, but keep in mind – your boss several years from now may be able to easily see this information with a simple search of your name. In fact, a recent Microsoft commissioned survey found that as many as 70 percent of hiring managers have rejected candidates based on information found online.
In all of these examples, easy access to information posted on the Internet can have serious consequences. Have you run an online search of your name recently? You may be surprised with the amount of information out there. One can easily find a person’s full name, phone number, birth date, address and pictures with a few clicks of the mouse. For instance, www.intelius.com is one site that searches utility, change of address, property and business records and other publicly available information to find people. You might have to pay a little more money to access more details of a person, but it is still a relatively easy process for someone to obtain information on you.
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