Internet Privacy

Privacy is a huge concern these days, as is identity theft, which these two are arguable are under the same umbrella. The Internet boom has made privacy and maintaining it more of an issue because the Internet can make it hard to keep things to yourself.
I will use Facebook as an example. You can post information that is as personal as you want. You can make the settings as private as you want; however, it isn’t terribly hard to figure out a way around the privacy settings. Many employers use Facebook to research people who are applying for jobs.
I am still shocked when I see people who have pictures of themselves drinking mad-crazy amounts of alcohol on Facebook, especially with the older generation of users. I know people who have been friended by their grandparents!
Privacy is also an issue with Twitter. I have heard stories of people tweeting about going on vacation and their houses then being broken into. People need to realize the Web has tones of users and as many "privacy setting" they may set up, there are people out there who can get around them.
With the boom of smart phones anyone can take a picture of you at any time. They can then post them to the web directly from there phones. That means if someone really wanted to, they could take a picture in a public locker room at the YMCA or something and post it to the web. For us students that means people can take pictures are parties and post them up, even if you de-tag yourself on Facebook they are likely still up on Facebook or somewhere else online. Prince Harry and Michael Phelps had a field day with experiences like this.
The Neon Cactus takes pictures of the dance floor and one time someone shared a link on my Facebook wall of a picture of me on the Cactus dace floor. Even though I was not drinking in the picture, I still did not want to tell the world I was at the Cactus, so I deleted the post and had to send a message to her explaining why.
Even though you may maintain your Facebook and keep it clean, there is no guarantee that other people will not post photos of you or tag you in links that you would rather not be tagged in. Privacy is harder to maintain with the expansion of the Web, so be aware and try your best to always present yourself in a way that is pleasing to you.