General - Monday, June 21, 2010 8:21 - 0 Comments

It’s Your Birthday!

It may be your birthday but the “feel good wishes” you get from your hundreds of social media friends may not be worth the information you are providing to potential identity thieves.  The availability of your full birthday in combination with your address and your mom providing her maiden name on her social media profile may be a dream for someone who would want to steal your identity.  The availability of information we provide on our social media profiles really needs to be thought through.  If someone is really your friend they should know when it’s your birthday.

As new apps on social media sites become more available we should think about the potential dangers of providing too much information.  Just because we can…doesn’t mean we should.  Facebook has new privacy settings that allow you to limit access of the personal data you provide to friends.  I would suggest you visit your profile on your social media pages without logging in and also from a friend’s computer to see what you are really sharing…then adjust your privacy settings accordingly.  You may get a few less “happy birthdays” but it could save you a ton of headaches.