Protecting Your Identity

I have had some people ask me about protecting their identity online.

You would be amazed how much information you accidentally let people know about yourself which someone could use to find you.

I few key areas to keep in mind so that you protect yourself:

• If you live in a big city it is probably ok to mention the city, for example Los Angeles. If you live in a smaller city I would change the name to some code name which you will remember.
  
• Use code names for family and friends. I have a personal blog which I use to keep track of how my kids grow and expand. However I use a code name for my daughter so her name never gets out there.
  
• Many places that you share photos on allow you to set it so only friends can see the pictures. Realize that whenever you put a photo up without some sort of protection like that, it can end up in the search engines. However you should realize that even photos that only friends can see, don't mean those friends can't copy it and put it somewhere else.

For the most part, just keep your nose clean and make sure you use commonsense when interacting on the Internet.