Detect privacy risks
Detect potential privacy risks or breaches by limiting the details you share with strangers.
“What I did in my youth is hundreds of times easier today. Technology breeds crime.” Frank Abagnale.
Don’t let yourself become a target for spam or fraud—control the amount of information you share with people and entities you don’t know, and take steps to find out where the information you share ends up.
Privacy settings are increasingly important for social networking, email, web surfing and online documents management.
Social networking
Social networking is an expanding phenomenon. According to ACMA’s recent E-Commerce Report approximately 8.6 million Australians visit social networking sites each month. Social media sites such as FaceBook, MySpace, LiveJournal and Twitter create an environment for instant dialogue, which, if not restricted through privacy controls, takes place entirely in full view of the internet community. You should consider limiting the amount and type of identity information you post on social networking sites. Adjusting your privacy settings for your profile will help you:
- control the amount and type of information you want to share
- ensure that people who don’t know you very well can only see certain parts of your profile
- avoid your information being used by people for marketing or other purposes.
As the popularity of these sites grows, so do the risks of using them. Hackers, spammers, virus writers and identity thieves follow this flow of traffic. To protect your profile and your privacy, consider these tips:
- be cautious when you click links
- know what you’ve posted about yourself
- do not allow social networking sites to scan your email address book
- type the address of your social networking site directly into your browser, or use personal bookmarks
- be selective about who you accept as a friend on a social network
- assume that everything you put on a social networking site is permanent, and that at an unknown future date it may be seen by a potential employer, your grandmother, or your children.
Privacy policies
You might have noticed that Google recently changed its Privacy Policy. This will change your relationship with Google, Gmail, Google Docs and any related products. You can, and should, read the new Google Privacy Policy before accessing any of their services.
From 1 March 2012, Google users will be treated as one single user across almost all Google products. This change allows Google to deliver a personalised service such as location-based schedule reminders and targeted advertisements. For example, your search terms on Google could be collated with other data Google has about you, such as your YouTube viewing history. Knowing you are a cooking fan based on your search results, Google might then recommend cooking videos to you when you visit YouTube.
The concern, according to international privacy advocates such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Electronic Privacy Information Centre is that your search results could reveal a lot of identifying information about you such as your location, sexual orientation, age, interests, religion and health concerns. Some people may want to keep this information as private as possible, and not share it with Google, and therefore the world.
So, what can you do?
To restrict Google from viewing your search habits, log in with your Google account. At the top of the page, hit the ‘Remove all Web History’ button, and then hit ‘OK’ on the next page asking you to confirm.
Clear out your browser's cookies to rid Google's tracking cookies from your browser.
If you have more than one Google account, you will have to follow the same steps listed above for each account and clear your cookies from every browser you use frequently.
Filling out forms and surveys
Many of us complete application forms and feedback slips without a second thought. Among other things, these forms may invite you to complete your date of birth, your preferences and your contact details. Take a moment to think about why you are providing this information and don’t be afraid to ask how it will be collected, stored, used and destroyed.
If an organisation is not willing to disclose how your personal information will be handled, then you should consider the amount of information you are willing to share with them.
Know when to say ‘no’
When accessing goods and services, you should try to minimise the amount of personal information you provide. However there will always be circumstances in which you will need to, and want to, share personal information with others.
Federal and State privacy laws are not designed to obstruct those interactions, but to ensure that you retain as much control as possible over how your personal information is collected and used by the government and particular private organisations.
If you have questions about the amount of information you are being asked to provide by:
- a Queensland government agency, contact us on (07) 3234 7373 or email enquiries@oic.qld.gov.au
- a private organisation covered by the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988, contact the Federal Privacy Commissioner on 1300 363 992 or email enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Remember, if you are not required to disclose information during a transaction, consider this option carefully.
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