Exceptional Internet

Personal privacy is a huge issue and one which people are becoming more aware of following some high profile examples in the media demonstrating quite how cavalier commercial organisations can be with the data they hold on you.

On-line privacy is a part of this, and the chances are you have some form of software already installed to protect you from malicious code (and if you haven’t stop reading now and go get some!).

But it isn’t just the high profile newsworthy exploits such as viruses and hackers that pose a threat to your on-line privacy. Legitimate commercial services collect a huge amount of data during your day to day on-line activities and this information may not always be used in a desirable manner. The consequences can range from an increase in junk mail to mystery charges on your credit card and could even prevent you from landing that dream job.

With this in mind we’ve gathered some common sense tips to help protect yourself when using services on the internet.

1)Set up a free e-mail address for “spam”. Many websites will require you to provide a valid e-mail address in order to use their service. This e-mail address will potentially be added to a mailing list or six, even if you’ve checked the “don’t contact me” boxes you may still find a subtle increase in “targeted marketing communications”.

With so many free webmail services available why not set up a secondary yahoo, hotmail or gmail account that you use when completing forms and creating user accounts online. If you find you like a service and wish to continue to use it then by all means change your profile to your primary e-mail address at a later date.

2)Never use your work e-mail address for personal online activities. Even if your employer has a laid back policy towards personal web access from the office you should never use your corporate e-mail account for anything not work related no matter how innocent – not even a single e-bay or Amazon purchase…seriously.

The reason is less about getting caught out when you are there but what happens to your account when you leave? Often it will continue to be honoured and your e-mail will be delivered to, or read by a co-worker or even a system administrator.

With many internet services all you need to gain entry is access to the e-mail account used for resetting the password. As many of these services also send out periodic newsletters the person now charged with your previous e-mail account will know which services they would be able to access using your identity if they were so inclined. In some cases this may be harmless but what happens if you have a credit card stored with Amazon? Or you’ve inadvertently given them access to your paypal account?

3)Beware of Social Networking websites! Sites like Myspace and Facebook are the current hot properties online, allowing you to create a profile and find new or old friends.

But as with anything you do the internet you need to exercise caution and use common sense. Don’t put anything up that you aren’t happy for the entire world to see. This is particularly important if you are of working age and likely to be seeking employment at any point.

HR departments are becoming increasingly aware of these sites and will routinely investigate prospective employees online profiles as part of the recruitment process.

A recent entry in the letters page of .net magazine featured a correspondent who’s slightly off-the-wall MySpace page was mentioned in the interview, leaving them feeling that this was instrumental in them not securing the job.

An even more extreme example of an individual coming unstuck by revealing too much on the internet was the case of IT Contractor Glenn Todd, who after submitting timesheets for work he hadn’t performed and cheating a company out of several thousand pounds he decided the logical way out was to fake his own death. He would have got away with it if his former employer hadn’t spotted his profile on popular showoff/nostalgia website Friends Reunited posted several months after his apparent untimely demise. Unfortunately for (but fortunately for what is good and right) Mr Todd this wasn’t taken as proof of an afterlife and broadband in heaven and instead legal proceedings resumed.

4)Completing Forms. When completing a form on the internet it’s important to apply common sense. Ask yourself “do they really need this information to provide the service I’m asking for?”, this is particularly true if you are not yet ready to complete the transaction and are simply investigating options, for example with a price comparison/quote website.

Use your spam e-mail address, change a digit in your phone number and don’t give a real address unless you absolutely need to. Unfortunately long ago I didn’t follow my own advice and I still receive annual telephone calls offering to give me an insurance quote for a car that I sold 5 years ago from companies I didn’t insure it with in the first place. Despite telling them every year that I no longer own the car and that my current vintage Volkswagen is too old for their mainstream insurance policies they fail to update their database. And for every call I receive I will also have ten pieces of junk mail arrive on my door mat.

Even veteran internet users will find themselves caught out on occasion, even when dealing with “reputable” companies. A recent example was the Interflora/Webloyalty rewards offer. Webloyalty apparently offers price promise, warranty and discounts across a number of online stores for which they charge £8 per month. Very few people are likely to take up this offer, but it was implemented in such a way on the Interflora website that unless you read the Terms and Conditions very carefully and avoid clicking a fairly standard looking button after order completion Interflora will hand over your personal and credit card details to Webloyalty who will charge you £8 per month for a service that you’ve probably not even heard of and had no intention of signing up to. Cue a number of irate Interflora customers and no doubt many free £8 credit card transactions for Webloyalty from people who don’t pay enough attention to their card statements.

5)Instant Messaging Conversations. Care should be taken when using technologies such as MSN Messenger as these applications give the impression of being a private conversation but it is important to remember how easily the content of these conversations can be kept and archived. Try to avoid being too candid unless you are really sure you know and trust the person you are chatting to (clue: if you’ve only ever met them on the internet you probably don’t know them well enough), otherwise you may find your conversations suddenly become more public than you’d like.

As you can see there are a number of potential pitfalls facing you online, and here we’ve just scratched the surface but you will spot that most of these problems can be avoided by taking a default cynical view and applying a bit of common sense. Combine approach this with some standard personal security software including a personal firewall, virus and spyware prevention and you’ll have a trouble free, and more importantly more enjoyable internet experience.

Filed under: Using The Web