Digital Tattoo

How many mobile devices do you own? Whether it’s an iPhone, MacBook Air, laptop, kindle or iPad – these hand-held gadgets are convenient and offer easy access to the internet, personal and professional calendars and online banking amongst other things.

Now imagine your daily life without that iPhone or iPad. What if it dropped out of your pocket on the bus? Or what if you absentmindedly left it on the table at the library? What sort of information does that hand-held device contain?

The importance of password protection has never been greater, especially considering the amount of personal and professional information now stored in the palm of your hand. A recent article in the Brisbane Times outlined some of the risks associated with these easily accessible devices and the clear need for password protection.

In the article, Adam Turner points out that, “Typing in a password every time you want to use your gadgets is a hassle, but leaving them unlocked is clearly a risk.”

Protecting your financial and personal information can be easy by taking a few simple precautions. Make sure your phones and other mobile devices are protected by passwords. It may take you a few extra seconds to access your Facebook profile or gmail account but it may also prevent an unintended user from accessing your accounts as well.

A recent blog post by Vancouver Sun tech reporter, Gillian Shaw, prompted several valid questions around online identity.

Shaw outlines the ways in which online social media sites like Facebook and Twitter treat your personal identity as though it were currency. While there is no monetary charge involved with signing up for a Facebook or Twitter account, the sites do impose another cost – that of your online privacy.

By collecting information about what articles you read, what sites you visit and particularly in the case of Google, tracking the topics of your emails, your preferences and ad value are assessed. Have you ever wondered why you suddenly see wedding advertisements on the side bar of your gmail account after sending an email to your friend about her bachelorette party? That’s because Google is offering their services as an aggregator and in this case, the information they are aggregating is all about you.

Shaw spoke with Simon Fraser University communication professor Peter Chow-White to get some perspective on the relative awareness that most young people have as to the privacy settings on sites like Facebook.

Chow-White told Shaw that, “Some of them don’t know the consequences of sharing everything, especially as their digital footprint or digital identity will be walking into the room with them on job applications.”

While online sharing is in fact integral to networking in a digital age, the fact remains that it’s up to an individual to take control of their digital identity.

Check your privacy settings and think twice about what you post. With a little bit of knowledge, you can ensure that your online identity is a positive one – maybe even worth a new job!

Forget about strollers and high chairs for baby’s first birthday – according to a recent interview on KVAL.com, more and more parents are purchasing domain names and establishing Twitter accounts for their new born babies.

Warren Adelman, president and Chief Operating Officer of GoDaddy.com, told KVAL that “the domain name is like 21st century real estate, 21st century identity.”

Parents are realizing that they have the ability to establish their child’s digital identity at a young age – in some instances, in utero. It might start off as sharing images from an ultra-sound on Facebook or creating a baby blog. Regardless of the intention, the fact remains that with each image, each blog post, each tweet, their child’s  ‘Digital Tattoo’ is crafted - an indelible mark that may follow them wherever their future leads.

Websites like babyurl.net are designed to provide parents with information on how to go about securing domain names and establishing their child’s digital identity. But what the site seems to lack, is an awareness around how to protect that identity.

The internet provides parents with a great opportunity to foster a positive online presence for their baby while sharing milestones with friends and family. Parents should be aware, however, that with a digital identity comes the responsibility of stewardship – both for their digital tattoo, and that of their baby.

You may have never heard of Christopher Soghoian but if you ever run into him, be sure to thank him for protecting your privacy.

The 30-year-old technologist and PhD candidate was recently highlighted in a Wired Magazine article for his tenacious crusade in the name of online privacy. While many of us are busy sending text messages, updating our Facebook status and sharing documents on the cloud, Soghoian is hard at work trying to hack into these sites.

His aim is not to steal personal information or assume another identity, but rather to prove to large online entities how easy it might be for someone of a lesser moral caliber to do just that.

He tests the security of sites like Google, Facebook and even the federal government, documenting the breaches and publicizing the risk all in the name of protecting everyday online users like you and me. In many cases, his efforts have resulted in changes to privacy policies and standards.

Soghoian’s most recent project, PrivacyReports.org, is made possible by a George Soros Open Society Foundations fellowship. The website will be a user friendly source of information on how telecom companies and ISP servers measure up when it comes to protecting the online identity and privacy of their users. As quoted in Wired Magazine, Soghoian says, “Visitors will be able to know how long providers are retaining their text messages and whether they provide law enforcement easy access to your location data.” He went onto say, “People have a right to know what companies aren’t telling them. My hope is that after a year, once I have the data up and it’s proving to be useful, I can give it to the ACLU or someone like that to run.”