Danger:Your Footprint on the Internet Forever

Today (25.11.2007) I found on Google News a post about how  “Blogs ‘could affect future jobs”. I know from my own experience of writing for my blog and for NowPublic, that the fine grained level of information I can reach, if I persevere to follow a trail, personal or other, is incredible; and this is possible without any illegal procedures. So it is good to know  the dangers and to take them into account, look at the following excerpts:

Blogs ‘could affect future jobs’  …”Internet blogs risk leaving a permanent electronic footprint which could be seen by future employers, the privacy watchdog has warned today.Seven in 10 young people questioned did not like the idea of potential universities or employers seeing their current social networking site content…”Many young people post content on social networking sites and online blogs which could embarrass them at a later date, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).”…see more.

Ghosts of blogs past that linger…”Party photos, jokey comments, comedy videos and flirting – just a few of the things that lure people to the mushrooming phenomenon of social networking sites and are posted without a second thought.But they are also the same things that can come back and haunt them, even years later, along with strident youthful views that remain unchanged in cyberspace even when discarded in reality.”….see more

Teens warned on social networking dangers…”One in six people have posted their date of birth online, a quarter have posted their job title and nearly 10 per cent have posted their home address. Names of siblings and parents are also routinely put online, generally acting as passwords.”..see source.

An interesting story.

“…A few weeks ago a US feminist blogger, Jill Filipovic of Feministe, posted a followup to an article she’d written some months earlier about being an object of sexist cyber-obsession on a website discussion forum populated by knucklewalking hooting troglodytes masquerading as her fellow law students. A flamewar ensued following that original post, and it all died down until a Washington Post article a few weeks ago about other female law students becoming objects of sexist obsession on the same website and how distressing they found the discovery that the first page of search engine results on their name turned up discussions of their sexual characteristics and pornographic speculation about their sexual histories.  The women were concerned that future employers, researching them on the internet, would come across these results and form an adverse opinion of them as a result. Especially as one top-ranking search result (on a different website inspired by the original sexist discussion forum) was a Rate the Hottest Babes competition naming female law students that may have given people the impression that these women actually applied to join the beauty competition, which they definitely did not.”…see source.

Sweden cracks down on internet salary snoopers  …”An Internet service that caused a storm in Sweden by letting people snoop on each other’s finances has been scaled back by regulators.The website, Ratsit.se, sparked controversy as soon as it was launched because it allowed users to perform anonymous, free credit checks and salary searches on any Swedish citizen. Within just a few clicks, nosy neighbours, business competitors and complete strangers were able to find out about each other’s earnings and whether they had outstanding bills to be paid.”…”In Britain there are some similar ways to access public information to learn about an individual’s financial circumstances. For example, the Land Registry allows people to discover exactly how much their neighbour’s house cost.”…see source.

Resources/WEB DANGERS    Current Internet Facts, 2007   “Nearly one in 10 teens (8%) has posted his or her cell phone number online (Teen Research Unlimited. “Cox Communications Teen Internet safety Survey Wave II,” March 2007).”…see more.