Brandy Burns    

SLM521

Elective #11-Privacy

 

How to Keep Your Private Stuff….PRIVATE!

 

Since the internet has become an essential part of day-to-day living, the majority of high school students are on the internet everyday.  This is a list of tips for high school students to help keep their privacy recognized while using the internet. Hopefully this can be used by educators in all subjects as a tool to help their students be skilled internet users.

 

  1. An email is not private.  Consider the information that you include in an email, would you want your parents to see it?  Your grandparents?  The police?  If not, think twice about including it.  Emails are available for viewing in legal cases with certain permissions, so be diligent about keeping your emails appropriate.

 

  1. Learn about your web browser's privacy policies.  Do you know what web browser you are using?  Some browsers take more steps than others to protect your privacy.  If you do not agree with them or think more should be done, talk to your parents about using another one with more stringent policies in favor of your family's privacy. 

 

  1. Get to know your search engine. When using your favorite search engine-Google, Yahoo, Duck Duck Go-the terms you search for are stored for a period of time.  Know and understand how long information is stored.  Talk to your parents.  Some people are more comfortable with this than others.  Some believe the longer information is stored, the less private it becomes. 

 

  1. Instant Messages may be quick, but they can last a lifetime.  As with your emails and search queries, IMs may be stored.  Several IM providers have a feature which allows users to save their own IM conversations.  This can be done if even only ONE of the parties in the conversation desires this action, therefore your conversation may be saved somewhere and you have no idea.  It's a good idea to keep anything private, like your address, social security number, and any other classified information OFF of IM. 

 

  1. Facebook is cool, but keep your face covered.  Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace (and numerous others) are a great way to keep in touch with friends.  However, there are people involved with the sites that may be in it for the wrong reasons.  Because of these site's growing popularity, they have become a target for sexual predators, therefore causing police to go on and target them.  Also because of their popularity, it is a common practice for employers to seek out interviewees.  Keep privacy settings high, and keep your pages and comments clean.  If your privacy settings are open, employers may see that picture or comment that was "just meant for your friend". 

 

  1. Know who's watching.  If you have a summer internship or on-the-job training that provides you with access to a computer, it is very important that you be your own judge of what is appropriate and not when it comes to using the internet.  The majority of employers monitors employee's internet usage.  As an intern hoping for a job after high school or summers home from college, it would be in your best interest to stay away form personal email, Facebook and other social networking sites, and IM.  Limit your usage to strictly work-related tasks, especially on company time.  Not only will you probably end up being more productive than the other workers, but you may end up scoring a job in the future.

 

  1. Call Aunt Ida first.  Get into the habit of NEVER opening an email from a sender you don't know.  If you skip or delete the email, and it happens that you missed Great Aunt Ida's from Kalamazoo's first email attempt, well, go ahead and add her to your contact list.  Then her address will be recognizable and you will feel safer opening it.  If it turns out to be junk, you just bypassed a potential internet hazard.

 

  1. Don't be fooled.  Never, ever, ever, ever give out personal information through email-or any other unsecure site.  (Remember to look for the little closed lock icon or an "https" site whenever you go to enter personal information.)  Especially if the email is from someone you don't know, or if it promise you to make a million dollars and never have to work another day in your life if you just offer up your social security number.  These are tricks.  Remember what your parents told you?  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

  1. Free now, pay later.  Use caution when using a wireless connection.  Make sure the connection is protected by a key to which you must enter a code or a password.  A free internet connection is tempting.  But using one and sharing personal information like a check or credit card number while doing so could ed up being very costly, to you and your parents. 

 

  1.  Be an informed internet user!!  Learn the privacy policies of sites you visit and order from.  Don't just click "ok" each time iTunes updates.  By agreeing to those terms and conditions, you are held responsible should something come up.