Online communities have existed since the invention of the Internet. The first were bulletin boards and email lists, which allowed people around the world to connect, communicate, and share information about particular topics. Today, social networking websites have greatly expanded the range of possible interactions, allowing you to share messages, pictures, files, and even the latest information about what you are doing and where you are. These actions are not new or unique – none of these can be done via the Internet without joining a social networking site.
Although these networks can be very useful, and promote social interaction both online and offline, when you use them you may be providing information to people who want to abuse it. Think of a social networking site as a big party. There are people you know, as well as some you don’t know at all. Imagine you are walking into a party with all your personal details and the latest details about what you are thinking, written on a big sign attached to your back so that everyone can read it without even your knowledge. Do you really want everyone to know everything about you?
Remember that social networking sites are owned by private businesses, and they make their money by collecting data about individuals and selling that data exclusively to third party advertisers. When you enter a social networking site, you are leaving behind the freedom of the Internet and entering a network that is governed and controlled by the owners of the site. Privacy settings are only meant to protect you from other members of the social network, but they do not protect your data from the owners of the service. Essentially you are giving all your data to the owners and trusting them. If you work with sensitive information and topics, and are interested in using social networking services, it is important to be very aware of the privacy and security issues they raise. Human rights lawyers are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of social networking sites and need to be extremely careful about the information they disclose about themselves and the people they work with.
Before using any social networking site, it is important to understand how they make you vulnerable, and then take steps to keep yourself and the people you work with safe. This guide will help you understand the security implications of using social networking sites.
1. General tips for using social networking platforms safely
Social media has become an obvious part of our lives. We share updates with our friends, family and all concerned persons using social media. But hackers can use this information to steal sensitive data and hack your account. Below are some general tips for using social media.
Always ask questions:
1. Who can access the information I am putting online?
2. Who controls and owns the information I put on social networking sites?
3. What information about me are my contacts passing to other people?
4. Would they mind if I shared information about my contacts with other people?
5. Do I trust everyone I connect with?
• Always make sure you use secure passwords to access social networks. If someone else logs into your account, he or she gets access to a lot of information about you and other people you connect with through that social network. Change your passwords regularly.
• Make sure you understand the default privacy settings offered by the social networking site, and how to change them.
• Consider using different accounts/identities, or perhaps different pseudonyms, for different missions and activities. Remember that the key to using a network safely is to be able to trust its members. Separate accounts can be a good way to ensure that such trust is possible.
• Be cautious when accessing your social network account in public Internet locations. Delete your password and browsing history when using a browser on a public machine.
• Access social networking sites using https:// to protect your username, password, and other information you post. Using http:// instead of https:// adds another layer of security by encrypting traffic from your browser to your social networking site.
• Be careful about putting too much information in your status updates – even if you trust the people in your network. It’s easy for someone to copy your information.
• Most social networks allow you to integrate information with other social networks. For example, you can post an update on your Twitter account and have it automatically posted to your Facebook account as well. Be especially careful when integrating your social network accounts! You can be anonymous on one site, but exposed when using another.
• Be cautious about how secure your content is on a social networking site. Never rely on a social networking site as the primary host for your content or information. It is very easy for governments to block access to a social networking site within their borders if they suddenly find its content objectionable. Administrators of a social networking site can do this
2. Posting personal details
Social networking sites ask you for a lot of data about yourself to make it easier for other users to find and connect with you. Perhaps the biggest vulnerability this poses for users of these sites is the possibility of identity fraud, which is becoming increasingly common. Furthermore, the more information you reveal about yourself online, the easier it is for authorities to identify you and monitor your activities. Migrant workers in some countries are being targeted by authorities in their home regions for their online activities, which has led to their family members being targeted. Ask yourself: is it necessary to post the following information online?
- Dates of birth
- Contact phone numbers
- Addresses
- Details of family members
- Sexual orientation
- Education and employment history
3. Friends, followers and contacts
The first thing you will do after filling out your personal details on any social networking application is to connect with other people. Presumably these contacts are people you know and trust – but you may also be connected to an online community of like-minded individuals you have never met. The most important thing to understand is what information you are making available to this online community.
When using a social network account like Facebook, where there is a lot of information about you, consider connecting only with people you know and whom you trust not to misuse the information you post.
4. Status Updates On Twitter, Facebook, and similar networks, a status update answers these questions: What am I doing right now? What’s happening? The most important thing to understand about a status update is who can actually see it. The default setting for a status update on most social networking applications is that anyone on the Internet can see it. If you want only your contacts to see the update, you must tell the social networking application to keep your update hidden from everyone else.
To do this on Twitter, look for “Protect your Tweets”. In Facebook, change your settings to share your updates with “Friends only”. If you also switch on those settings, consider how easy it is for your information to be reposted by followers and friends. Agree with your network of friends on a common approach to forwarding information posted to your social networking accounts. You should also think about what you are telling your friends about you that they don’t want others to know; it’s important to be sensitive about this, and ask others to be sensitive about what they tell you about you. There have been many incidents in which information contained in status updates has been used against people. Teachers in the US have been fired after posting updates about their feelings about their pupils; other employees have lost their jobs for posting about their employers. This is something almost everyone needs to be careful about.
5. Sharing content online
It’s easy to share a link to a website and get your friend’s attention. But who else will notice and how will they react? For example, if you share (or “like”) a site that opposes a stance taken by your government, agents of that government may take an interest in it and target you for additional surveillance or direct harassment. If you want your contacts (and of course the administrators of the social networking platform you use) to be the only ones who can see what you share or mark as interesting, be sure to check your privacy settings.
6. Revealing your location
Most social networking sites will display your location if that data is available. This function is generally provided when you use a GPS-enabled phone to interact with the social network, but don’t assume it’s not possible if you’re not connecting to a mobile device. The network your computer is connected to can also provide location data. The way to be safest about this is to double-check your settings. Be particularly mindful of location settings on photo and video sharing sites. Don’t assume they aren’t sharing your location: double-check your settings to make sure.
6. Sharing videos and pictures
Photos and videos can reveal people’s identities very easily. It’s important that you have the consent of the subject/subjects of any photo or video you post. If you’re posting an image of someone else, be aware of how you may be compromising their privacy. Never post a video or photo of someone without their consent first. Photos and videos can also inadvertently reveal a lot of information. Many cameras will embed hidden data (metadata tags), which reveal the date, time and location of the photo, camera type, etc. Photo and video sharing sites may publish this information when you upload content to their sites.
8. Instant Chat
Many social networking sites have tools that allow you to discuss with your friends in real time. These work like instant messaging and are one of the most insecure ways to communicate on the Internet, as they can reveal who you are communicating with and what you are communicating about. Connecting to the site via https is the minimum requirement for secure chatting, but even this does not always guarantee that your chat is using a secure connection. For example, Facebook Chat uses a different channel than HTTPS (and is more likely to be exposed). It is much safer to use a specific application for your chat, such as Pidgin with the Off-the-Record plugin, which uses encryption. Read the practical guide ‘Pidgin – Secure Instant Messaging’.
9. Joining and creating groups, events and communities
If you join a group or community what information are you giving people? What does this say about you? Alternatively, if people join a group or community you created what are they declaring to the world? How are you putting people at risk?
When you join a community or group online it tells others something about you. Overall, people may assume that you support or agree with the group’s words or actions, which could make you vulnerable, for example, if you are seen as aligning yourself with a particular political group. Also if you join a group with a large number of members you don’t know, this could compromise any privacy or security settings you have applied to your account, so think about what information you are giving away before you join. Are you using your picture and real name so strangers can recognise you? Alternatively, if you create a group and people choose to join it, what are they announcing to the world by doing so? For example, perhaps it’s a gay support group you’ve set up to help people, but by joining it people are openly identifying themselves as gay or gay-friendly, which could bring danger to them in the real world.
Email Security Tips
1. Do not open email attachments that you do not expect, or that come from someone you do not know. When you open such an email, make sure your anti-virus software is up to date and pay close attention to any warnings from your browser or email program.
2. You can use anonymity software that can help you hide your chosen email service from anyone who may be monitoring your internet connection. A good, free software program to do this is Tor (find out more about the Tor browser using Google). If you do not want to give away information about your identity through your email, do not register a username or ‘full name’ that relates to your personal or professional life.
3. You can avoid spam (unsolicited or junk email) by protecting your email address and distributing it sparingly. Also, never open or reply to an email you believe to be spam, as spammers will take this as proof of the address’s legitimacy and send you more spam. Consider using a spam filter, but remember that it needs to be monitored as it can mistake genuine emails for spam.
4. You should try to avoid your email being mistaken for spam by recipients. Spam filters will block messages with certain words in the subject title. It’s worth scanning your spam folder for subject lines that end up being blocked.
5. Beware of email scams. Many scam emails pretend to come from banks, eBay, PayPal or other online shops. If you receive an email telling you that your account is at risk of being closed, or that you need to take immediate action by updating your account information, be very suspicious: these messages are usually scams. Another frequent scam involves you receiving an email from someone you know, saying they have had an emergency and asking you to send them money. This person’s email account is likely to have been compromised by a scammer.
6. If your browser suddenly gives you a message about invalid security certificates when you try to access a secure webmail account, pay close attention to it. This could mean that someone is tampering with the communication between your computer and the server to intercept your messages.
Activity
1. What are anonymous accounts? Find some browsers that support anonymity. 2. After reading the above section, find out if you were following the above secure practices when handling your social media account? Find the gaps? 3. Based on the above recommendations, adjust your social media account settings
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