Ever feel like more and more of your life is being thrust into the public domain? The internet makes it easy to share our lives through social media and social networking. As users, it’s easy to forget that the information we put out there isn’t always in our control. Who can view, access, distribute and use our content has become a hot topic in recent years.
You don’t have to look too far back in the news to see evidence of the debate. For example, according to Google’s new privacy policy (in effect as of March 1, 2012), the company will now integrate information from all of the services you use — like Gmail, Google+ and YouTube — in order to provide a better user experience. Its Good to Know page explains how your information is useful — but whether it’s more useful to you or to advertisers is subject to debate.
And when Facebook launched Timeline, many critics weren’t impressed with the display of information dating all the way to when you first joined. In the past few years, several organizations — including Canada’s Privacy Commissioner — have warned about privacy concerns on this widely popular social networking site. (PC World has a good overview of tips to lockdown your profile.)
In order for social networks to work, companies have to be able to store and share your content — in some cases, they technically “own” it. In addition to the content you choose to share, these sites also collect information when you sign up and fill out your profile pages — and it’s all data advertisers and other third parties can use.
So how can you protect your privacy in this brave new online world? We’ve got some tips.
Read the policies
Yes, they can be tedious and we know it’s so tempting to click “agree” so you can get on with your business. However, it’s important to know your rights and responsibilities before you sign up. Find out what information the site collects and stores — and why. Also, how is it used by the company and third party sites or applications? Will it be shared?
When you sign up, you’ll encounter the Terms of Use — but it’s not necessarily the same as the privacy policy. Links to the privacy policies can be found on the main page so you can read them before you sign up.
If you’re already a member, you may want to have another look. Sites don’t need your permission to make changes and some of these changes are automatically applied to your account. You should be notified, but it’s up to you to keep tabs on privacy issues and act on them.
Looking for a place to start? Here are the links to the privacy and data use policies for some popular sites:
Facebook: Data Use Policy
FourSquare: Privacy Policy
Google: Policies & Principles (Which includes YouTube, Google+, etc.)
LinkedIn: Privacy Policy
MySpace: Privacy Policy
Pinterest: Privacy
Twitter Privacy Policy
Yahoo.ca Privacy Center
