Teenagers & social networks

Recent research of Pew showed that 2/3 of the teenagers online keep their profiles on social network "private". Teens showed to be thoughtful about their identities online. According to the research only 10% of those teens put their 1st and last name online.

I think that teenagers might be even more careful than older people in managing which information they want to share with the rest of the world.

According to this research about 65% of the teenagers said that they believe they should not provide the name of their school on their FB profiles. Teens think of how the information they provide online could help people to find them online. The research showed that teenagers might actually provide false information on their profiles, for ex: the city of residence, which is a way they use to misguide people whom they don't want to have a contact with.

They are still 40% of the teenagers who have public profiles, and share a lot of info online, hoping to expand their network and meet new people. This of course exposes them to greater risk. Parents should give the issue of online privacy a great amount of attention. 43% of the teens have been contacted by a complete stranger via social networks. Those teenagers are Digital Natives and spent most of their time online, hence a proportionate time should be devoted to guide them to become aware of the possible risks on online social networks.

European Authorities Join Facebook Privacy Dogpile

In the news "European privacy advocates have added their voices to complaints about Facebook's privacy changes, and they say certain ways Facebook treats data may even be illegal under European laws. Facebook's approach to its recent privacy controversy mirrors previous instances that have upset users, according to analyst Greg Sterling -- it only relents once pressure becomes unbearable" (read more at http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/69982.html?wlc=1273772232>)

It is not only about facebook.Many websites, and e tailers are showing more concern about the EU strict laws about privacy.

Few days ago, i was making a purchase online " pen stylus to replace the lost one", and when i proceeded to the check out, i filled out all the info, and then when i put the card number, another question popped out, and said : Are you an EU citizen? . It was a strange question,and it said "?click here" . i was wondering why i am asked this question, i clicked to know why. The main point was, that if i am an EU citizen then a lot of the info that i provided such as my name, phone, email will not be kept in the data, or shared blah blah"

So i clicked : yes, i am an EU citizen (although i am not but i put yes). They are more strict about personal info, and i like that. I hate receiving emails from marketers, or phone calls.

I hope soon all websites will have this option, this way i will get less spam and annoying calls, and they will save themselves from future legal trouble