Dr. Neil Hair

The term electronic footprint speaks volumes to me. A recent study by the Brits suggests that over half of young people on social networks publish information about themselves that they may later regret. I've always been concerned by the 'perceived' level of privacy of such actions on social networks. There are a few simple steps you can take to help protect this 'identity' youve worked hard at crafting. For one restrict the level of openness of your profile. Make it such that only friends can access the full profile of your account. For two assume that every known and unknown criminal is looking for you, accessing your information and using it against you. And dont think youre safe if youre older. Im seeing many pictures of peoples early lives being posted in facebook by the older crowd that are potentially incriminating – my wife for instance – looked great back in the 1990's as a Karaoke singer. Your mileage may however vary. I do think though that the majority of users are painfully aware of the information they post AND the potential ramifications of doing so. This is the generation after all that grew up with the internet. Lets not teach ones mother to suck eggs (as my mother would say - I have no idea why). What we probably should teach though is the fact that the delete buttons of modern technology dont always erase what you want them to.