Fear of Facebook - Protect Your Online Identity

Since breaking onto our scenes in 2004, Facebook has become something of a phenomenon, with over 63 million active user's world wide.

It is clear that social networking websites such as Facebook can easily become an addiction, with figures showing that more than half of its users access the website at least once a day, spending an average of 19 minutes online at a time.

For the majority of members, writing on people's walls, and listing personal information may seem safe and acceptable, however it is clear that Facebook is posing many dangers, giving predators an opportunity to find unsuspecting victims.

When signing up to a social networking website, you are asked to fill out biographical information, such as your name, age and date of birth.

People's naivety takes over at this point.

They believe that this information is safe as they only plan to talk to people that they know.

By posting these details, people are making themselves vulnerable and potentials victims to fraud.

For example, many people use their date of birth as their pin code for mobile phones, bank accounts or alarms.

People are also given the option to state where they live, and what their mobile phone number is.

Listing personal information may seem safe however it is clear that Facebook is posing many dangers, giving predators an opportunity to find unsuspecting victims.

Danielle Jordan

Research has shown that 41% of Facebook users will divulge their personal information to a complete stranger, which increases their susceptibility to identity theft.

A female student in Norwich, Holly Jones, said "I automatically filled out the personal details section without even thinking about it, for example my University halls address and mobile number, but now I realise that this could have been dangerous and I have taken it all off. If for instance somebody random was browsing facebook and came across my profile, they would know everything about me and be able to find me without me knowing anything about it."

One safety feature available on all these websites is a privacy setting, enabling only people you are aware of to view your profile.

Nicola Williams, 21, said "I made my profile completely private straight away.

Only people who add me as friends are able to see it, because I want to control who sees my photos and information".

People are being urged to set their profile to a private status.

Facebook is extremely popular amongst students, and these students are being encouraged to think twice about what they are writing, who they are writing it to, and what photo's that they are being tagged in.12»