Websites' Popularity Raises Important Privacy Concerns

Imagine posting information about your wedding in your bio on TheKnot.com and finding out someone may have been using that information to ruin your special day. Recent posts on message boards in the Washington, D.C.-area relayed just such a story, claiming that a "knottie" named Mrs.BeachyBride had listed details about her upcoming nuptials, including her vendors and venues, on her personal page. This is standard practice for knotties, who post pictures and other information to help other brides get ideas for their own weddings. According to the message boards, Mrs.BeachyBride received an alarming phone call from her photographer one day; someone pretending to be her had called to cancel his services. He didn't recognize the caller's voice as being that of Mrs.BeachyBride and became suspect, alerting her of the call. After checking with her other vendors, Mrs.BeacyBride discovered one of the venues for her wedding had been canceled on her behalf, and had been rebooked by a different bride. Although University Chic could not confirm this story with Mrs.BeachyBride or spokespeople for the site, it raises an interesting question for anyone who posts personal information on this and other networking sites such as MySpace.com and Friendster.com. What kind of personal information have you left floating in cyberspace? *Your Bio is Your Billboard* You and all of your closest friends may have accounts with a social-networking site, but chances are your best buddies aren't the only ones reading your bio. Consider this: The Knot has 2.1 million unique visitors each month and more than 3,600 new members join each day; Friendster has more than 24 million registered members; and MySpace has more than 60 million members and nearly 220,000 new members join every day. It's always great when a long-lost friend manages to find you, but if you're concerned about who else may find you, here is some information you should leave off your bio: - Full name - Personally identifiable screen names - Street addresses (some people don't even post the city they live in) - Phone numbers - Places you work, past and present - Specific information about your routine - Places you frequent - Vendors you use Most sites suggest that users don't give out this type of information to people they meet online. In fact, officials from MySpace told University Chic that posting last names, addresses and phone numbers actually violates the terms of use agreement and that they "encourage all members to recognize the public nature of the Internet." The site has developed safety tips in cooperation with Parry Aftab, executive director of Wiredsafety.org, the world's largest online safety and help group. Knotties reacting to the post about Mrs.BeachyBride were outraged at the violation, and a few wrote that they were considering changing their screen names or editing their bios completely. One commented, "It's such a shame that there are crazy people out there who ruin things for us normal folks." *Taking the Risk* Is this risk enough to make people log off for good? Not likely. According to the comScore Media Metrix, which tracks Internet usage, MySpace is second only to Yahoo in terms of page views, surpassing other heavy-hitters such as MSNBC, eBay, Google and AOL. In the month of January alone, MySpace had more than 23.1 billion page views. And thanks to its enormous success online, The Knot empire has grown to include television shows, four-color glossy magazines, books and other products for brides and grooms since it started in 1996. There is an audience out there, and most likely you are part of it. But why are these community sites so popular? In the March 2006 issue of _Vanity Fair,_ former child star Jeremy Jackson (better known as "Hobie" from TV's _Baywatch_) waxed philosophically about the Internet subculture, saying people find it easier to communicate online, specifically on MySpace. "For some reason you get on there and all the barriers come down," he told writer James Verini. So that you can continue to enjoy the benefits of these sites for years to come, let's hope you keep a few of those barriers up. delicious | digg | technorati
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