Look Both Ways: Help Protect Your Family on the Internet

It might be obvious to you that you shouldn't post your home address on a blog. But did you stop to think that you might be revealing your home address and telephone number or cell phone number in the signature line attached to each out-of-office message automatically sent to anybody and everybody who e-mails you in your absence? Did you remember you were wearing a T-shirt from your company picnic or your teen was wearing a sweatshirt with her high school name on it in that picture you posted on your blog? Could somebody put together your house number on the picture of your home with the city and state you included in your profile in order to find you?

There are times when you might choose to post contact informationfor example, when posting a résumébut first consider who will be able to see that information. Will the posting be available to the general public? Do you need to provide a complete address, or would an e-mail address and state suffice?

As with every other topic in this book, the first goal in protecting your location is awareness of potential pitfalls. Then you can decide if you are comfortable with the information you've shared, and who you've shared it with, or if there are additional steps you want to take to prevent giving away your location. Here are some steps to consider:

• Don't leave yourself vulnerable to a simple phone directory lookup. If you post your full name and city on your site, finding you becomes a much simpler task. Don't post your last name on your site, and don't use other people's full names or anything else that specifically identifies them. Your friends already know this information, and it's nobody else's business.

• Remove any information that helps someone locate your home, school, where you work, and even your town, especially if it's a small town, which makes you easier to find.

• Consider whether you want your blog/social networking site/space to be public or not. The wider the access, the less specific the information you should share.

• Be aware of what you're showing in photos that might identify your location or say more about you than you intend. This includes clothing with logos or names, car license plate, street signs, and anything else in the background that gives clues to where you are. (Remember Brittany from Chapter 4 and the photos she posted of her house, car, and neighborhood.)

• Be savvy about what your friends are sharing about you on their blogs and through comments on your site; it might not be you who is exposing your location.

• Be alert to new technologies offered by your service providers, or that your kids learn about, that might share your location information through cell phones and other mobile devices.