Are your personal details at risk when you use social networking sites?
February 29, 2008
Over recent years many consumers have started to make new friends and socialise with existing friends via social networking sites, such as myspace and Facebook. These sites have been increasing in popularity, with many people creating their profiles online, and chatting to both existing and new friends openly. However, what may sound like harmless fun has now been highlighted as a potential hazard that could put consumers at risk of becoming the victims of fraud and identity theft – and even burglary – according to some officials.
When consumers put their details and create their profiles on sites such as Facebook their details could be viewed by thousands of people, and all it takes is one person with determination and dishonourable intentions to put someone at increased risk. Officials from the consumer campaign group Which? have expressed concern over the level of risk that some members are placing themselves in, stating that it is all too easy for fraudsters to obtain a wide range of details from the Internet, especially with the help of sites such as Facebook.
Amongst the details that can be found about members on the site are their date of birth, links to family members and friends, and contact details. Members can alter the profile setting to increase security but many simply go for the default setting. One official from Facebook stated: “Facebook encourages users to customise their security settings to a level they are comfortable with.”
In the meantime Facebook has reported that there has been a drop in visitors, with a 5% fall over the last month reflecting the heightening concerns over data security – an issue that has been at the forefront of peoples’ minds following incidents such as the HMRC data loss blunder last year which saw the bank details of 25 million people go astray. An investigation is also being launched by the Information Commissioner’s Office with regards to why the personal details of members who have deactivated their Facebook accounts are still being kept on file.
In order to test how secure the information on Facebook was, a researcher looked into the profile of Neil Fowler, the editor of Which? The researcher was able to find out a range of details about Fowler including access points to his home, putting him at increased risk of burglary.
Mr Fowler later stated: “It was a real shock to see how much personal information about me could be found online, which could potentially be used by crooks to commit fraud. We all need to take steps to protect our data - both online and offline - by being more aware of how our personal data could be used and taking care who we share it with.”
Last year one industry official from a credit reference agency – who know all too well what the dangers of identity theft can be – said: ‘I actually joined Facebook myself recently and realised that I’d put far too much information on there and had to go and take it all off again. It’s great fun, but you do have to be careful with the level of information you put on there. You’re meant to be protecting this type of information, not putting it in the public domain.’
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