Blog Entry

Not All Social Networking Sites Are Bad

24 May, 2007

While I am on a roll about these social networking sites, I would like to let you know that I don’t think that they are all that bad. However, I do think that there are bad people out there that will take advantage of the good people using them. Again, just like in my previous entry, social networking sites are here for a while yet, it may be an idea to teach people how to use them properly. Just a little bit of information for you - According a Cnet News article earlier this year, Cnet states that 83% of all participants in social networking sites have their ID stolen. This sounds bad to me if you are adult, but imagine this sounds worse if you are a child.

Someone could steal your child’s ID at the ripe old age of 13, and you may not find out until you have to apply for government documents like a social insurance number or driver’s licence. By then your child’s financial life could be ruined for a long time to come and no one would even know it. Did you see the number of sex offenders in the previous entry? I wouldn’t even want to guess what the number of criminal’s who steal ID is, and I am even more afraid for anyone who has used their real information to put a profile on any of these types of sites.

Oh, just one more thing on this note. It is sort of a logic question. Not that difficult so don’t be scared. If Canadians are adamant about keeping their information private and even spoke up to the politicians and lawmakers to get PIPEDA (the information privacy act) happening, how does it make sense then that they put a profile on the public Internet with the very information they asked to keep private? Just a question, and definitely food for thought.