How private is your data online?
Social media superstar, Chris Brogan was in my neighborhood last month, speaking on social media marketing for small businesses. I remembered him saying, ”Privacy is dead because of the internet” and that statement really hit me. It’s not hard to see privacy go down the drain, especially with the transparency that social media demands and Facebook’s privacy woes as of late.
Small business owners have a lot to loose to breaches in privacy online. Social networks that keep photos, contact data, and other information on their servers even when you’re not active can be dangerous if stumbled upon by outsiders. (Imagine your client finding old photos of you partying in a chicken suit on New Years Eve on Facebook. Get the picture?)
How Can You Combat Your Privacy Concerns?
Chris did mention a way to combat the privacy issue. He said to “Win by having as much volume & value as u can” (paraphrased). My only issue with “having as much volume & value as u can,” is that it only covers up what’s beneath the surface. Barack Obama may have been the most “socially aware” presidential candidate in history, but his volume and value didn’t hide the controversy around the authenticity of his birth certificate (Wikipedia article).
In order to effectively combat the privacy issues of social media, online networks, and the world wide web in general I believe you have to take a more direct approach and fight them head-on. Here are some tips on how to secure your data across the web. Remember, the only way you’re going to get 100% privacy is by not using the internet at all. But, these tips should help you clean-up your tracks, protect your current data, and prevent further misuse of it.
Use Fancy Email “Ninjary” (Forms, Plugins, and other Useful Tools)
Googe Docs: Google’s document program makes it super easy to create your own contact forms (with customizable fields) and embed them on any blog or website.
You can also use WordPress plugins such as;
Visitor Contact Forms: This plugin features a slick web 2.0 presentation of a web form. It also includes your Skype, Twitter, and other contact information in a convenient pop-up window.
Alternatives: Two other suggestions for masking your email address are to use a disposable email address or an email graphic. The disposable addresses are meant for collecting spam only and this website generates a unique graphic for your email address like this; (data scraping programs and bots are less likely to steal your email in an image than by simply typing it anywhere on the web).
Tweak Your Social Network Security Settings
If you’ve made any previous privacy changes they’ll carry over to the new privacy page as Custom settings. If you would like to tweak these in a granular style click the customize settings link towards the bottom left-side of the page.
The big news for the new settings include more control over applications, games, and how they share your information. Here’s how to fully protect yourself while using the site;
1. Click the Applications, Games, and Websites link at the bottom of the page.
2. Check out the What you’re using section first. This section displays every Facebook app, game, and website associated with your account. Click the remove link to delete applications from your account.
3. Move to the Info accessible through your friends link. This section shows you what information your friends’ apps can access through their profile (that’s right, an app your friend uses can access your information). I recommend you deselect everything to keep other apps from getting, using, or abusing your data.
4. The Instant Personalization setting gives you the option to let Facebook partner sites use your data to “personalize” their websites for you when you visit. I recommend you deselect this option to keep your information secure.
- Be careful with what you share! Use common sense and don’t let people know when you’ll be away from home. Sure, it’s common sense, but you’ll be surprised how many people let their guard down and end up on sites like pleaserobme.com.
- Don’t give out personal information unless it’s a DM (direct message) to someone you trust.
- Uncheck the “Tweet Location” box in your account settings if you don’t want people to know where you are. Note: If you decide to keep this option you can delete all your location information as seen in the graphic to the left.
- Check the “Protect My Tweets” box if you only want approved people to follow your tweets. Note: Entrepreneurs, small businesses, and brands are discouraged from exericising this option as it takes your tweets out of the public stream where potential customers are. Just remember to keep what you share all business all the time and you’ll be fine.
Secure Your Blog and Domain Name
Your blog is your brand’s home-base and you’re in a war for your privacy. In this digital battle your base can be attacked, hacked, and mined for private information. Follow these steps and ensure you’re ready for whatever the internet can throw at you.
2. Install the WP Security Scan plugin for WordPress and use it’s suggestions for securing your blog.
3. Keep regular back-ups of your blog’s database by using the WP-DB-Backup plugin.
4. Private register future domain names and ask your hosting provider to replace your info with theirs for current domains.
Manage Your Data Across the Web from the Big 3
Remember, the world wide web really is a wide web. The more we use Google’s, Microsoft’s, and Yahoo’s services the bigger our web gets. Here are some quick instructions for taking control of the web of information you weave.
Google Dashboard – Google’s dashboard, which launched in early November 2009, gives you a snapshot of the most popular google services you use.
- The dashboard really is an eye-opener to how entrenched in Google services we really are.
- Use it to manage privacy settings for Youtube, Docs, Gmail, Buzz, and more.
- Be sure to edit your Google profile and remove any personal information that you don’t want to be there.
- Did you know you can delete your entire web history and stop Google from recording it? Here’s how;1. Go to Web History
2. Click on Remove Items or Clear Web History
3. Click Clear Entire Web History
4. And you’re done!
Note: This option will also pause the recording of your history as well. Click the resume button to start it again at anytime.
My Quick Tips
- Delete old email accounts (If you’re going to keep that Hotmail account as a junk email then adjust your contact data instead).
- Delete your old job hunting website accounts (unless you’re still looking for a job). These sites hold some of your most valuable information in the form of resumes.
- Delete old social networking accounts (you STILL have a Myspace account? Really?).
- Use your business email address and contact information to protect your personal data online.
- If you’re a “work from home” entrepreneur, rent a Post Office Box and use that instead of your home address.
- Choose strong passwords for all your web accounts (preferably a mixture of numbers and letters with lowercase and uppercase characters).
- Data-Mine yourself and see what Google has on you! I did and found my friendster account from my college days. Talk about embarrassed!
- Don’t sign-up for EVERY social network. Maintain around 3-5 that you know you can manage.
Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.
About The Author
Rod Kirby
