Social networking sites. There are many of them available on the internet such as the big ones like facebook, twitter and myspace. All of these sites help people such as myself, to stay connected and updated with friends. These sites however, use our personal information to make profit. They give access to companies that then use the information to produce ads that appear on the side of the site. Knowing that someone is able to pry though personal information is unsettling, but what's worse is knowing that people are able to hack into these sites and steal information.
With each year, the privacy settings on these networking sites seem to get better, but the ability of hacking will also improve, so the personal information we put out there on the internet will never be truly safe. To protect my own information, I never friend someone unless I truly know them. This doesn't mean that I only know their name and face, it means that I know some of their background and history. I also never reveal obvious things like my address, phone number or age. I also delete anything that may seem to risky to keep such as personal information from others that have been sent to me.
Thankfully, I don't use facebook very often, but when I do I am always mindful of what I say and post. Once something is out on the internet, anyone can see it. Not only can anyone see it, those who know how can hack into an account and steal information saved on the account. No matter how great privacy settings seem, what we put for others to see it up to us. Being careful while using the internet and not divulging information is not only safe, but it's smart.
