Kingdom Keys Bookmarking Blog

The internet is a wealth of information and it cuts both ways. You can find tons of information just about everything - likewise people can find things about you too.

There is a term for this - ego search. Type you name into a search engine and be amazed at how popular you are.

Here is a list of some privacy issues:

Facebook phonebook page
People use social media to meet folks. But some shy person was upset that the phone numbers of all his friends were there for him to see. So don't become friends with people you don't know or don't list your phone number on your profile.

Google maps and street view
People can see the front of your house and maybe read the license plate of the car parked there.

Google maps and satellite view
People can literally see into your backyard. Realtors can tell if you have a swimming pool there or whatever else their clients are after. If your house is not for sale - too bad.

Geo-tagging in JPEG images
Smartphones with GPS technology will readily tag photos taken by the built-in camera with latitude/longitude data which gives the precise location of where the photo was taken.

Phone calls recording
Corporations and government departments have long advised callers that they were recording the conversation "for quality and training purposes". Now this is an application you can download for most mobile phones. You can have a proof that so-and-so told you this-and-that if you have an axe to grind.

Wi-Fi networks
Without a password you allow your neighbours to surf the net at your expense. In an airport you may actually not connect to the net at all but to someone's PC posing as so-called "Free Public Wi-Fi"

The list goes on and if you are not paranoid by now you should go dig a hole and hide. Really most issues discussed here are not new and were available before the net. Cyberspace makes those things easier to get that's all. It works the other way too. You could setup a webcam at your front door and check it remotely on your smartphone. How about that for those concerned about burglars? (Would they come in through the front door though?)

Spy agencies and private investigators have a field day scouring through all the data available. Cyber attacks on sensitive government facilities are on the increase - so people keep on trying especially in Russia and China.

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