Social Media Privacy Check

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         When is the last time you sent some personal information over the internet, whether it was to make an online purchase or subscribe to a newsletter? Personally, I enter this information quite regularly without much thought because it is convenient and I figure if everyone else is doing it, it must be safe. Even though I am careful about which sites I am making purchases through, I am still quite paranoid that my identity will be stolen. Last time we were asked to do a deep dive into what our digital tattoo looked like for EDU776, I was happy to see that there was not any super private information or old posts that I made as a teenager out there, which I credited to my name being so common. Despite my social media presence being mostly private, I was still uneasy about some of the information about me that was readily available after conducting more specific searches, such as my address, phone number, relatives, and the name of my girlfriend. What bothered me about this was that I did not intentionally post this information anywhere, and I certainly didn't give these websites permission to post about me. Here is my previous blog post that goes into my findings in more detail.
     

       When deciding what I wanted my privacy settings to be on social media in the past, I usually just considered whether I want coworkers, students, and parents of students to see what I am posting. For this reason, I heavily protected my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts so that nobody could find me unless they were truly my friend. Even though I rarely posted and did not post anything controversial, I still didn't want anyone to be able to use social media life against me for any reason. Not until recently, after I read that the viral "10 Year Challenge" on Facebook was a way to make it easier for hackers to procure useful data, did I consider my privacy settings on social media being a way to prevent identity thieves from getting the missing pieces they need. As the article "How to Manage Your Social Media Privacy Settings" points out, "Social media users tend to overshare life details in order to feel connected to friends, family, and coworkers. But these private details can be used maliciously by cyberthieves to access sensitive accounts, create fraudulent identities, and compromise careers." I am a little more at ease knowing that I do not post anything personal info on social media, but this is something that not all people, especially students, are made aware of. Even though my privacy settings are set so only friends can view my posts on Facebook and Instagram, I am still careful not to share my current location, where I went to school,  or what city I live in. I figure this is information is safe to be on a "need to know" basis. 
         Despite all of my paranoia, I have been convinced by coworkers and Mrs. Zumpano to put myself out there on Twitter and keep my profile public (follow me @MrThompsonCJHS!). I have enjoyed building up my PLN and learning from others, especially making connections with teachers or people involved in EdTech from places outside of my school district. With that being said, I am extra careful not to post anything that could be used against me by identity thieves. To go back to my original reasoning for wanting to stay private on social media, I am also careful not to post or re-tweet anything political or entertainment related that could be considered controversial from my school Twitter account. Students need to be taught this lesson on digital citizenship and privacy before it is too late. One of my biggest fears about the future of technology is identity theft, and keeping personal social media accounts private is one small way to help.