Posted: Jun 01 2010 | Revised: Mar 25 2019 1. What information are you sharing when you use social networks? The kinds of information that you may be sharing on a social network includes: All of this sharing reveals information about you, including contextual information you may not even be
aware of. By sharing this information online you may be providing enough information to allow advertisers to track you or hackers to take advantage of your online identity. Therefore it is important to be aware of the information that you are providing and to be conscious of the choices you can make to protect your privacy. 2. How may your social networking information be used and shared? Publicly available information. Every social network allows you to post some information that is completely publicly accessible. This can be anything from your username to individual posts, to your entire account. These kind of “public” posts are not blocked behind any kind of access restriction. Anyone, including strangers, can view whatever is posted as “public.” However, there may be other data that you share publicly without realizing it, and there are less obvious ways that your information may be treated as public without your permission, including:
Advertising. Your own publicly posted content isn’t the only way that you can be tracked, and advertisers are very interested in the information that can be gathered by tracking your online activity. This may include:
Behavioral advertising is the term used to describe the practice of tailoring advertisements to an individual’s personal interests. Social networks that provide their services without user fees make a profit by selling advertising. This is often done through behavioral advertising, also known as targeting. This practice is appealing to marketers because targeted advertisements are more likely to result in a purchase by a viewer than comparable non-targeted advertisements. They are valuable to social networks as they can be sold at a higher price than regular ads. Third-party applications are programs that interact with a social network without actually being part of that social network. These applications take many forms but some typical and popular forms include games that you may play with contacts, online polls or quizzes, or third party interfaces with the social network. To make these applications useful, social networks may allow developers automatic access to public information of users, and may even access some private information, when a user grants the application permission. You may inadvertently grant an application access to your profile without realizing the extent of the permissions being granted. Some facts to keep in mind when considering using third-party applications:
Government and law enforcement officials can monitor social networks for valuable information. Law enforcement agencies can and do monitor social networks for illegal activity. During an investigation, law enforcement will often turn to a suspect’s social network profiles to glean any information that they can. Though each social network has adopted its own procedures for dealing with requests from law enforcement agencies, it’s important to keep in mind that the degree to which these sites cooperate, or don’t cooperate, with law enforcement may not be fully explained in the privacy policy. Employment. Potential employers are generally permitted to use whatever information they can gather about an applicant in making a hiring decision. Although there are legal risks, including possible violation of anti-discrimination laws, employers are increasingly turning to social media to inform their decisions. It’s is important to know what information can be seen by non-contacts and to consider what kind of conclusions might be drawn from it. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) sets limits on what information employers can get from background checks and how they can use that information. However, the FCRA only applies to employers using third-party screening companies. Information that an employer gathers independently, including from informal Internet searches, is not covered by the FCRA. Employers frequently monitor what employees post on social networking sites. In fact, many companies have social media policies that limit what you can and cannot post on social networking sites about your employer, and hire third-party companies to monitor online employee activity for them. Some states have laws that prohibit employers from disciplining an employee based on off-duty activity on social networking sites, unless the activity can be shown to damage the company in some way. In general, posts that are work-related have the potential to cause the company damage. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a number of rulings and recommendations involving questions about employer social media policies. The NLRB has indicated that these cases are extremely fact-specific. It has provided the following general guidance, however:
3. Privacy policies Most people skip over the privacy policy when joining a social network. However, users can learn a lot of useful information by reviewing a privacy policy before signing up for service. A social network’s privacy policy will explain how the social network will collect and use information about people who visit the site. When reviewing a privacy policy, remember:
The California Attorney General's guide explains how to read a privacy policy. 4. Tips There are many ways that information on social networks can be used for purposes other than what the user intended. Any time you choose to engage with social networking sites, you are taking certain risks. However, these practical tips may help you minimize the risks of social networks. When registering an account:
General privacy tips for using social networks
Which of the following is the most secure way to keep sensitive data private when using social networking sites or apps?Use a VPN
If you want to keep your conversations, messages, and calls secure; you can use an encryption tool which is called VPN. A VPN helps you to keep your communication encrypted and secure. All your information will be passed through a secure tunnel between the websites and your VPN services provider.
What is the best way to keep our organization secure when using social networking tools quizlet?What is the best way to keep our organization secure when using social networking tools? Do not post or share confidential information that could be used against our organization. Why is it important to use a strong, unique passphrase for each of your social networking accounts?
What method would a cyber attacker use to infect a system with malware quizlet?What method would a cyber attacker use to infect a system with malware? Tricking a person into opening an infected file attached to a message.
Which of the following is a best practice to protect information about you and your organization on social networking sites and applications?Which of the following is a best practice to protect information about you and your organization on social networking sites and applications? Use only personal contact information when establishing personal social networking accounts, never use Government contact information.
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