Protecting Your Personal Information
Chat rooms, peer-to-peer forums, and IM are places on the Internet where teens hang out. Unfortunately, these sites also can be much more dangerous than other Web sites. That's because these are easy places to steal personal information from unsuspecting teenagers.
This doesn't mean you shouldn't go to your favorite Web sites anymore, but you do need to be aware of the information you give out. Not everyone on the Internet is a computer supervillain. However, there are still plenty of people on the Internet who want to steal your personal information, either to harm your computer or you. For you to stay safe, it's important that you never give away any personal information.
- Keep your name, school, social security number, address, age, birthday, phone number, and names of family or friends to yourself.
- Watch what information you share indirectly. That information could be your school mascot, when your favorite band played near your home, or any information that might help a dangerous person dig up other information about you. If someone knows what school you go to, they're that much closer to finding out where you live.
Make your personal info your personal secret. If you do share it, and then realize that maybe you made a mistake, talk with your parents or an adult you know. They can help protect you if anything bad were to happen.
