How internet savvy are you? So you don’t give out your details to weirdos in chat rooms but how much personal info do you really have on the web?

We look at the issue of leaving an online footprint and how everyday things you do on the internet could result in you losing your job or even having your identity stolen. We spoke to web pro Irene Chan, from Symantec, the makers of Norton, to figure out the big girls’ guide to net safety.

Your online footprint
An online footprint is all the information that’s out there about you on the internet. Whenever you go on a site, write in a forum or sign up to a networking site like Facebook, you’re leaving a digital footprint. When it’s collected together it creates a big picture of who you are, for any one who takes the time to find out your details.

Most of us are pretty careful not to give out too much info on one site, but will happily give it out in bits and pieces all over the net - maybe you put in your name on Facebook, your address on your online DVD store (or it appears in the online White Pages) and your phone number into your trademe profile.

Information online can never really be considered deleted, so information you put up five years ago can still come up when your name is googled. Your online footprint also incorporates any photos or written material about you that other people may have uploaded, and which you might not even know about! Irene points out that often people want to leave a footprint so their friends can find them through sites like Facebook and Myspace.

The result
Not only can your friends find you, but everyone else can too! Imagine this; you go for a job interview and when you get there, your prospective employer tells you he’s just googled you before you came in. What do you think of coming up? Your great high school sporting achievements that were written up in the local newspaper (most newspapers file their content online) or the hilarious drunken photos that your friends uploaded of you on the weekend.

What’s even scarier, is that online content stays up forever! So the ‘funny’ photos your best friend took of you funnelling a bottle of wine, while wearing a box on your head, and guys’ underwear when you were 20 will still be there when you’re 28 and trying to land your dream job as an account director. Even if you delete them from your page, other people may have already linked to them, or tagged them, so the photos will stay up permanently until all the versions, and links to them, are deleted. 

Missing out on a job would be bad enough, but what if someone actually assumed your identity, cleaned out your bank accounts and accessed all your online passwords? Irene says that by simply combining all the info you’ve put on various sites about yourself, people could easily have enough info to imitate you. How about if you decide that you want to have a fabulous career in the public sphere, but as a kid you made some nasty, and politically incorrect forum posts about male politicians and the size of their cars (in relation to the size of their bits).

Anyone searching your name, will see all of your online activity to date, including that! Irene says to keep in mind that anything you put online, you should be happy for the world to see, because once it’s online it’s usually there for good. 

So what can you do?
Irene says the best way to manage your online footprint is to be careful what goes up in the first place. Only give out information that you need to, and check which fields are actually mandatory to fill in before you go spilling all your info. Irene suggests creating a digital identity or taking a look at the site’s security settings and setting them so only your friends have access to your private details. Watch out for images of you that other people upload, and if you’re not happy with them, get them to take them down before you lose touch with them!

If you do suspect someone is using your details fraudulently you can contact the police and make a complaint. Most banks have specific divisions to deal with internet fraud and Irene recommends checking your credit card and account statements monthly, for any activity you can’t identify.

Most people can’t avoid using the internet and why would they want to? It’s such a fantastic way to keep in touch with the world around us (and it’s home to nzgirl!). Being smart about what you do online and following a few of these simple tips will keep you safe and sound and ensure there’s no nasty photo surprise in ten years time, when you google yourself. 

Isla

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