Social Networking

Facebook

Social networking has created powerful new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life.

Privacy

On large social networking services, there have been growing concerns about users giving out too much personal information and the threat of sexual predators. Users of these services need to be aware of data theft or viruses. However, large services, such as MySpace, often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidents.

In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in placing too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, which may create a behavioral profile to use in making decisions about the individual.

Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of data - information having been altered or removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to 3rd parties. This danger was highlighted when the controversial social networking site Quechup harvested e-mail addresses from users' e-mail accounts for use in a spamming operation.

In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is normally strictly scrutinized by institutional review boards, for example, to ensure that adolescents and their parents provide informed consent. It is not clear whether the same rules apply to researchers who collect data from social networking sites. These sites often contain a great deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are public, republishing it in a research paper might be considered invasion of privacy.

Links to privacy policies and safety guides of some of the popular social networking sites are as follows:

Facebook	Privacy Policy	Safety Guide
Twitter	Privacy Policy	Safety Guide
MySpace	Privacy Policy	Safety Guide
Hi5	Privacy Policy	Safety Guide
Orkut	Privacy Policy	Safety Guide

Tips for Safer Online Social Networking

Make sure you really know who someone is before you allow them onto your friends list. Anonymity is
one key to the popularity of online social networking. Just as you can be anyone you want to be, so can
anyone else.
Protect your password. Never use a password or challenge question that reflects something about you
on one of your social networking pages (e.g., your favorite sports teams, our first pet, your favorite
color/flower, your place of birth, etc.).
Keep your page private and accessible only to people you invite. You can choose what friends access
your page, but you can’t choose what people access your friend’s page or computer.
Your information can be passed from someone who has your permission to someone who doesn’t
without your control. The majority of victims who find their information being passed around the Internet
all say the same thing: “I didn’t know”.
Protect your privacy and your friends' privacy too. Always get their okay before posting anything on your
page about them, including their pictures or content from their pages.
Check what your friends are posting and saying about you. They may not be as careful as you and may
be putting you at risk.
Never post something online you wouldn’t be willing to tell anybody and everybody face-to-face.
Webcam images don’t disappear just because you turned your webcam off. The person receiving your
images could be recording them or taking screenshots.
Blur or morph your photos a bit so they won't be abused by online predators.
Your pictures can be copied, pasted, and sent around the world in milliseconds. A true friend, whether
online or in the real world, would never pressure you for pictures or video.
Do not post your social networking page publically unless you are prepared to share it on your college,
job, internship, scholarship, or sports team application.

SOPHOS Tips for Using Social Media

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