By Gina Massetani
Whether you are creating a new email account, setting up another social media account or are signing up for a new loyalty program it seems you always have to click and accept their privacy terms and conditions. Now the question is- do you read the statement?
Most people just click and move on with whatever they are actually trying to get to, and completely forget about that annoying little box – and many of us tend to forget to check about 99% of the time, and then you get that lovely error message. Months later, you start getting emails from some obscure company offering you something you have no interest in, and you never will, and you start to wonder, why am I getting all these emails? Lack of privacy, perhaps?
Privacy is something that everyone wants, some expect and no one really has. It is a sad reality, but unfortunately it is the truth. You may think you have the most private social media profiles out there, but the truth is, just like everyone else, once it is up on the wonderful Internet, it is ALWAYS up on the Internet. A close friend of mine just recently found out someone had striped her exact Facebook profile picture and cover photo and created a new profile with a different name. The sad part is, Facebook can do nothing about this. It happens all the time, and both your profile picture and cover photo are considered public, so there is no way to prevent this.
Another example can be found on Instagram. Public profiles on Instagram allow anyone to see your posts. This is great if you want to receive 100 likes on a post of your morning breakfast, but the downside is, everyone can then see ALL of your pictures. Guess what happens next? Just like on Facebook, people can then screen capture your image and with a little editing, make them their own. It is not right at all, but sadly, the only thing we can do to stop it is, well, not be on social media or the Internet and basically be a hermit.
What I find most interesting about the topic of privacy is the differences in reactions of different generations. People that grew up with this technology actually expect this to happen and seem okay with it, and some even find it a compliment when people clone their photos. Umm, really? Older generations that grew up without the Internet and know what privacy is, completely freak out and feel exposed to the world. Which reaction is right? Both are valid, and it’s subject to opinion.
The drastic measure you can take to make sure you maintain a shred of your privacy? Don’t use the Internet (not going to happen). Don’t use social media (that won’t happen either). At the very least, make your profiles PRIVATE (some will do this). And if you are really a go-getter, read those privacy agreements (maybe one person will).
Better yet…be smart, create different passwords for different accounts, monitor your accounts – and your credit cards and bank accounts – for any unusual or unauthorized activity. Keep the “sharing” of personal information to a minimum, if you have to share…and, hopefully you are sharing only thoughts, random YouTube videos and maybe the occasional (non-incriminating) photo. But awareness is key. Cybercriminals are literally everywhere, and are perfecting their art hourly, not daily, so not only do the companies we do business with need to be circumspect, but we, as consumers, as travelers on the Internet, need to be very aware of our exposure and the possibilities for fraud and other cybercrimes.
Enjoy your Internet “surfing,” but, just as you would heed a warning on the beach about Great Whites in the waters off the coast before surfing, you should heed warnings about cybercriminals who are just as ready to snatch you off your Internet “surfboard” and cause you a world of problems.
