Protecting your digital footprint
Posted Feb 15, 2013 8:16 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Canadians don’t like to be watched…..
According to a new national Leger poll for the Calgary Sun, threats to personal security are a top concern for most Canucks.
Almost half are more worried about their data privacy than the environment, climate change and the global economy.
And for a 50 per cent raise in pay, six in 10 Canadians would be willing to be tested for drugs and alcohol, but for that same pay raise, only two in 10 would be willing to handover their browser history.
One of the biggest culprits while you’re web surfing is the tiny tracking files or cookies left behind each time you use the computer.
They record what you’re looking at and then use these records to build a profile on users that includes some personal tid-bits.
They then take the files and sell it to advertisers so an ad will pop up the next time you use the site.
Experts say that can include everything from your family members, to your cell phone and even your home address.
Many information firms, such as Abine, offer services like “Delete Me” to help erase your digital footprint.
Privacy Analyst Sarah Downey says it’s a huge problem that just seems to be getting worse.
“People should definitely be googling themselves regularly and staying on top of their social network settings,” says Downey. “I would suggest doing it at least once a month.”
Also an attorney, she says many don’t even realize how big an industry information mining actually is.
“With our service, we remove from 40 companies but there are hundreds of them that are out there,” she tells 660News. “And many of them don’t let you delete from their profile.”
Social Media expert and university professor Tom Vassos has a general rule, ‘don’t put anything on the web that you don’t want to become public.’
“Because a lot of times people think in their networks, they can release certain kinds of information but I don’t trust the settings of exactly who can see what,” he says.
And he adds there is more at risk than just your embarrassment because more and more employers are checking out prospective employees online.
The survey also found most Canadians do not want these third parties to have access to their information.
