When you first use the internet, it is clear from day one that anything and everything requests your data. Whether it be your name, age or email address, it is near impossible to do anything without creating accounts or giving out your details. Whilst some feel confident that nothing can go wrong by sharing this information, others do anything they can to avoid their personal data falling into the hands of the wrong people.
Personally, I have never been overly concerned with sharing my data, an oversight of which I will probably regret one day. Whilst telling websites (or even people you meet) your birthday, you may think it as trivial as telling someone your favourite icecream flavour, but unfortunately sharing this data can ultimately result in malicious activity in numerous forms. From people stealing your identity, to purposefully sharing this information without your permission, a lot of bad things can happen if you accidentally reveal too much about yourself.
Over the years of socialising online, I have met many types of people. From those who are willing to tell you everything up to their blood type on day 1, to those who refuse to even reveal their true names after years of "friendship", it can be puzzling to the mind to comprehend why some people behave the way they do around personal data. Whether it be out of fear of being found in real life, or a fear of not being in the spotlight online, people handle themselves very differently to each other and you never really know what to expect from someone when you first meet them online.
One example is someone I will call "Joe" for the sake of privacy. Joe was happy to share plenty of information with anyone and everyone who would listen. From their sexual preferences, to their marital status and all the way to the fact they were fostered due to their biological parents being abusive. Whilst Joe's behaviour of oversharing almost appeared as a cry for attention, imagine the shock to everyone when Joe admitted that he had lied all along and most of that information was fictional, for the sake of them being afraid to let their online friends know who they really were. Ultimately, they ended up being someone with a much more simple life than the person they acted out to be, was it purely for the sake of trying to stand out? Who knows. Although Joe admitted long term deceit, his friends instantly forgave him and moved on from the subject, which leads to think, if they were able to forgive him so easily, could they themselves be doing something similar?
On the other hand, "Carol" (again for the sake of privacy) was the opposite to Joe. Initially she would share nothing besides her name, gender and schooling subject. Not a drop of information was shared about location, appearance, or a lot of other every day topics that people online often discuss. Carol was very distrusting of the internet, as growing up her parents had led her to believe that everyone she met online would try and take advantage of her in some shape or form. And whilst this definitely an issue with delving into the internet for the first time, as long as you play smart, you should never end up having issues with malicious users online. However, as by my previous use of the term "initially", it did so happen that after months had passed, Carol became more comfortable with sharing details such as her general location, family members and finally a picture of herself. Fortunately for her, those that she trusted her information with had no wish to use it for anything bad. Sadly, that is not always the case.
Whilst you may think that Joe put himself in danger by sharing so much, or Carol to be silly for her fear of sharing so much, you can never be too careful online. I was unfortunate enough to experience that not everyone you meet online has good intentions. When I was younger I played an online game of which the majority of players were young teenagers. After years of playing on a daily basis and feeling comfortable with the friends I had made, I can tell you that I was shocked one day to find I couldn't log on to my account. It turned out that my friends of years, had slowly been extracting seemingly irrelevant personal information from me with the intention of being able to gain access to and steal my account. Think you trust someone online? Think again.
Although your first reaction may be "well, that would never happen to me, I'm not that dumb!", you would be surprised how easy it is to leak private data that others can take advantage of. So the next time someone online asks you what your first pet was called, try and recollect whether you used that as a security question once, because these things are easy to forget. As for how much information you ultimately end up sharing, it's always a good idea to do regular google searches of your name as well as usernames you use online, to see if anything comes up. I am fortunate to live in the EU where GDPR often means I can request my personal data purged from websites if I do not wish it to be there. As for the rest of the world, things may not be so easy, so make sure you never share anything you want to keep secret, as once things are on the internet.. they are generally very hard to erase.
So keep this in mind next time you tick a terms of service without reading it, you never know who could be using your data for what. Good luck out there!
Fawn
