Privacy and Identity
Many of us go on the Internet nowadays for various reasons and two of the big reasons
why we use it are to socialize or to be entertained. When using websites like Facebook or
twitter, our first thought is not the risk of getting our identity stolen and the same goes with
online shopping; no one’s first thought is that someone on there is trying to steal their credit
card number or social security number. Even though it rarely happens, we should always have
our guard up. As John D. Sutter explains ‘There are tools available to Internet users who would
like to protect some aspects of their online privacy’ (1).
There are many people that are trying to get your personal information everyday
without you necessarily knowing what they are trying to do with it. Those include identity
thieves, scam artists, stalkers, debt collectors and many more. There are infinite possible ways
they can steal your identity like for example by sharing too much information about yourself on
internet, phishing schemes, data pharming, spyware and more. When your identity is stolen by
thieves, there are many things they can do with it like go on a spending spree, drain your
checking account and savings, apply for a job, obtain medical care or even commit a crime.
These are reasons why it is important to know more about how you can reduce identity risks.
One of the most important ways to reduce risks is to be careful with what information
you share on the Internet. As Jon Kleinberg, a professor of computer science at Cornel
University who studies social networks explains: ‘When you’re doing stuff online, you should
