Even if you are extremely protective of your online privacy, experts say your friends can destroy it with something as simple as a birthday greeting.
This New York Time article says little things like that can give criminals crucial information.
The article reports criminals can figure out who a person is with a limited amount of information. Just by knowing your birth date and city or state, they can figure out the last 3 digits of your social. Small bits of self-revelation can form a unique social signature. In some cases down to the social security number.
And those small bits don't have to come from you. Having tight privacy controls on your own social networks might not be enough. Your friends can vanish your privacy in an instant with little things, such as a birthday greeting, or a tweet about your hometown or employer.
Information like that can make it easier to figure out your social security number. Last year, two researchers published this paper, in which they showed they could accurately predict the social security numbers for 8,5% percent of US residents born between 1989 and 2003.
Identity thieves can use social security numbers for credit card transactions, banking, and other identifiers.
My advice: when you're online, behave as if you're in public. Do that not only for yourself, but also your friends. For more on online privacy - go to the 33tv.com and click on my page: pelpina's picks.
This New York Time article says little things like that can give criminals crucial information.
The article reports criminals can figure out who a person is with a limited amount of information. Just by knowing your birth date and city or state, they can figure out the last 3 digits of your social. Small bits of self-revelation can form a unique social signature. In some cases down to the social security number.
And those small bits don't have to come from you. Having tight privacy controls on your own social networks might not be enough. Your friends can vanish your privacy in an instant with little things, such as a birthday greeting, or a tweet about your hometown or employer.
Information like that can make it easier to figure out your social security number. Last year, two researchers published this paper, in which they showed they could accurately predict the social security numbers for 8,5% percent of US residents born between 1989 and 2003.
Identity thieves can use social security numbers for credit card transactions, banking, and other identifiers.
My advice: when you're online, behave as if you're in public. Do that not only for yourself, but also your friends. For more on online privacy - go to the 33tv.com and click on my page: pelpina's picks.
