PRIVACY ISSUES WHEN USING SOCIAL MEDIA

Online social networks allows you to socialize with family and friends, share photos and express yourself. However there are people who use social media networking to embarrass, harass and steal your personal identity and information. You need to be careful about what information you release online.

Tips to minimize the privacy risk when using social media:

• Use a strong password.
• Keep a strong antivirus and spyware protection on your computer.
• Check privacy settings.
• Read privacy policy and terms of service before opening up a social media account.
• Provide basic information that is necessary to open an account. As you can always provide more information to the site  but you can't always remove it once it gets posted.

If you think your privacy has been invade by an organization then you can make a complaint. If they don't respond to your complaint, you can complain to the office of Australian Information Centre (OAIC) to investigate. You can make the complain via their website. www.oaic.gov.au

If you think your privacy has been invade by an individual that has revealed your personal information without your permission you can ask them to remove it from the site. If they don't act you contact the site itself to have it removed or seek legal advice.

Caution, common sense and scepticism are your best tools to protect your privacy using social media accounts.