Social Websites

Social websites are very popular and, on the face of it, all very well but if you use one or more of them please ensure that you don't fall into the many traps by accepting the default settings without first checking them all carefully.

Always bear in mind that the main aim of all such organisations is to obtain as much information about as many individuals around the world as possible and that your interests are way down on their list of priorities – That is if you are actually given any consideration at all!

"We can make it easy for you to find your friends – just allow us access to your e-mail address book" (or words to that effect) say Facebook.  Oh yes, and what a great harvest for them!

Sure, your e-mail address list will be matched-up with the e-mail addresses of people on it who are already Facebook members but what about the unwanted knock-on effects to other people on your list who are not members?

At best, allowing others to access to your address book is discourteous and it is an infringement of privacy because you are providing a third party with personal information about people who have given you their e-mail address in confidence.

It's a fair bet that any non Facebook members will be getting an invitation to join as well and not only that but if their e-mail address appears on any other Facebook members' lists then the names of other potential 'Friends' will be included in the invitation.

The way this works in practice is that Facebook sends an e-mail to a non member informing them that 'Mr X' has become a member and that person is inviting them to join and become a Facebook friend.  And, for good measure, if Mr X's e-mail address happens to be listed on other Facebook members address lists then their names will also appear as being potential 'Friends' even though they will be unaware that such an e-mail has been sent.

When it comes to possible far reaching, damaging and even dangerous aspects, be extremely careful about personal information you publish because there is no going back!!

Literally anyone can copy everything you publish - including pictures - and save it on their own computer.  They can then use the information for whatever purposes they wish.  And even if you delete anything you've published the data will still remain on the social networking site's servers.

To summarise, study all the details regarding privacy, make the most appropriate selections to keep risks of all types to a minimum and consider other people by never giving a third party access to your e-mail address book.