Internet privacy issues are certainly not new, but they are not something to be taken for granted. Technology has allowed sharing of information through different means. Users, too, have developed a careless attitude when comes to giving out private information. At first there were no repercussions, but the proliferation of sharing this information has killed privacy. Social networking is one of the areas where users willingly give up their privacy. The sad thing is that many users really don’t care about this, unless they were affected.

One high school English teacher in Georgia lost her job because of the European summer vacation pictures that she posted on Facebook. The school authorities considered these to “promote alcohol use” and “contained profanity”. Many of the pictures showed her holding a glass of wine or a mug of beer. Although she tried to fight back, this experience is something that every social networking fan should learn a lesson from. It is not safe to post even those supposedly innocent pictures on the internet.

The teacher claimed that she used the privacy settings on her Facebook account. She expected that her restrictions would allow only her closest friends to see her photos, but that did not happen. This is clear evidence that privacy settings do not save a user from other prying eyes. Being careful with who can see the posts is not enough to maintain privacy. It is possible that one of her closest friends posted her photos somewhere else.

The issue of improving online consumer privacy without too much government control has been going on for a long time. Consumers hope that a balance will be achieved so that they can be free from online threats. The efforts put forth by privacy advocates and legislators seem to be working against each other. Government says there is a need for additional regulations, but is it really a question of insufficient laws, or the absence of self-regulation?

With the rapid advancement in internet technology, consumer information can be collected in many ways. The process becomes easier each time – sometimes for beneficial purposes, but at other times not. There is evidence of abuse as shown by the increase in reported privacy breaches. Measures have to be taken so as not to allow further threats to privacy.

There was a recent attempt to find out the state of corporate consumer information collection and what private companies do with the data that they collect. Representatives from government agencies were called by a government official to shed some light on the issue. When they were asked about the status of corporate consumer information collection, they admitted that massive activity on collection and compilation of personal profiles are done by private companies. Generally, the purposes are for marketing and advertising.

Despite some privacy concerns, Facebook is still up to making advancement in its services by changing its privacy settings. Several times, this social networking giant has received so much criticism. And yet, here it is once again, changing its privacy settings and rolling out another feature without clarifying what it is about. Will it ever learn a lesson?

Rolled out in the later part of last year, the new service feature is called Tag Suggestions. This feature was added by changing Facebook’s privacy settings, and it allows automatic recognition of a user’s face. Tag Suggestions maps the user’s face and detects whether or not there are matching images, in the same or in other albums, when an image is ready to be tagged. These images are then automatically tagged, saving the user the time in doing so one by one.

It is clear that aside from you, anyone else can tag your photos. There is a chance that someone can tag you in something incriminating although they do not mean to do so. This is very likely to happen because the user might not individually check the tagged images for potential problems. This is even true when someone would purposely put you in hot water because of your photos.

Are you one of those social media buffs who do not give a second thought about sharing personal information? How long have you been doing this? Five years? Seven years? Well, if you are an individual seeking work, those online mistakes might compromise your chances of landing a job. Yes, your social media footprints could step on your own toes, and it would hurt a lot. Don’t you think it is time to clean up those mistakes?

The FTC has given its “go” signal to a certain company to run background checks on the internet and social media history of job applicants. Of course, this sounds like another privacy issue, and as expected, there has been a lot of media attention regarding this. Those who realized what could happen were worried about how their past social media activities could trap them. There were many speculations here and there, but many of those are wrong.

These background checks are done on the applicants without their consent. Employers can request, through the company that was authorized by the FTC, background check reports for job applicants. It is either a “PASSED” or “FAILED” report based on the applicant’s social media history. This is the main reason why privacy issues have sprung up. Going back to the speculations previously mentioned, reports have it that the authorized company stores about seven years’ worth of social media data. This is inaccurate. What it actually does is simply look at up to seven years of the applicant’s history.

The social media craze has infected users of all ages, and there’s one interesting site that deals with social media rules for new moms. Babble.com has listed some rules of etiquette on internet usage that parents are encouraged to follow. Specifically, these rules include standards regarding parents sharing information about their children. Moms in particular have the natural tendency to post anything that is considered a milestone or happy moment in their children’s lives.

Without any inkling that what they are doing could trigger privacy issues, moms unsuspectingly share their child’s photos and news of their activities on the internet. While this could be harmless to some extent, Babble.com recommends that parents be careful about doing so. It has enumerated rules for using information that could pose some questions on etiquette and privacy.

Moms are discouraged from sharing details about their baby’s bathroom habits. No matter how well the “story” is presented, it cannot hide the fact that they are posting something ridiculous. There is enough nonsense on the internet without moms adding to it.

More and more people entrust some important aspects of their lives on the internet. This is because many people share their personal information when they do online shopping or join social networking sites. However, a point is reached when they sense that they have made some online mistakes. What they want to do now is to remove those unwanted portions of their internet footprints. Specifically, they want to remove information they shared that should have been kept private.

This is a result of mindless sharing of personal information. Since they have realized their mistakes, they are now asking for a kind of internet “eraser tool”. Some groups are working towards the passing of legislation that would allow users to easily remove their unwanted data from the internet. Users should have thought of this before they decided to upload their data because now it is too late.

The issue on “the right to be forgotten” is now becoming more intense and popular. In fact, it has begun taking a foothold in some countries. Some have even given a hint of creating an enforceable law of this kind. One direction is headed towards making it possible for users to demand removal of any information about them online. For instance, criminals, after serving their terms could be given the right to demand removal of their criminal histories that were posted on the internet.

Children are fascinated by all the information and images that they encounter on the internet. Statistics say that 90% of today’s school age children have access to computers either at school or at home. These children have become so skilled that they can explore many different sites, but they do not think about privacy issues. Many of them feel that exploring the internet is just like going to the park and seeing different things without having anything to worry about.

However, parents fear that the more their children explore, the more they are exposed to danger. This is especially true when it comes to those under 18 years old. They are not mindful about giving out important personal information. They consider it normal procedure when websites ask them to submit personal data. Those who are into social networking even upload photos, post comments, give out email addresses, home addresses and other personal information.

Right from the start, parents should be personally involved with their children’s internet activities. Yes, it is true that children of this age need some privacy, but not when it comes to the internet. A good relationship must be established by parents with their children so that they are not seen as intruders. This is the only way that internet activity can become family time. Obviously, parents should know which sites their children visit so they can be guided.

As more and more children become involved in online activities, parents want to have parental control over them. The thing is, many of these parents are caught between online safety and invasion of privacy. Those who have started using their parental control would not continue because they said they should respect their children’s privacy rights. The truth is that without parental control, their children can become prey to online predators.

Internet surfing by children is not like their keeping diaries. A diary is accessible only to the owner or to a limited number of family members. The internet is totally different. It is accessible to the whole world therefore, parents should view control on the internet as a responsibility rather than as a choice. Parents must act as the first line of defense. Obviously, children are the most vulnerable to abuse on line because of their emotional and intellectual immaturity.

The internet is a nesting place of an estimated 1 million pedophiles. They do not rest when it comes to finding their next victim, and it could be your child. These child molesters and sexual predators keep their eyes open looking for a child that is unguarded. Your son or daughter does not have the capacity to handle the situation they might accidentally find themselves involved in. There is no substitute for parental control in making sure that children’s online safety is not jeopardized.