Protecting Your Personal Information

I like to think that most people are pretty cool. Maybe that makes me naïve, but I'm not naïve enough to know that you can't trust everyone. If I meet you online, I don't really know who you are that's why I play it safe.

Potentially the most dangerous things for kids are some of the things we like most, like chat rooms, peer to peer forums and IM. That's where perverts and predators hang out, because they know that we like those things.

So, if I'm going to chat, I won't share my personal stuff. Not with anybody. Why take a chance of letting a hacker steal from your computer or even worse, you.

• Be safe and keep things like your name, school, social security number, address, age, birthday, phone number and family or friends names to yourself.
• Watch what information you share indirectly. That's your school mascot, when your favorite band played near your home and other stuff they could use to find you.

Make your personal info your personal secret. But if you do share it, and then realize that maybe you made a mistake, talk with your parents. They can help protect you.