Remember your Netiquette and be nice!
What is personally identifiable information? It’s any personal information that could be used to find or identify you in real life. This could be such information as your real name, address, telephone number, cell number, your sports team, health club, or links to websites or other profiles that might give this information away.
Taking a picture in front of your car with your license plate, home address, workplace, school, etc showing in the photo. You may be wearing a school or team t-shirt, a scout uniform or baseball cap that might give away ways of finding you offline. This information could be misused to steal your identity, guess your passwords, cyber stalk, cyber bully or harass you or by predators who really want to hurt you.
When viewed as a whole, these seemingly innocuous facts can used to determine a prospective victim’s actual location. They may use multiple screen names and user profiles, pretending to be other people, to gather more information from someone who might not be willing to continue talking to a stranger beyond a few conversations.
An easy guide for kids and teens is to tell them never to post anything that their parents and principal shouldn’t see. Remember, once you hit that send button, you will have virtually NO control over how this information will be used, or who may end up viewing it. A typical scenario involves one member persuading another to send them sexually explicit pictures of themselves. This can eventually lead to threats of publishing the pictures Internet-wide or forwarding them to a victim’s friends, coworkers, and family members. Can you even imagine the level of embarrassment you may be forced to suffer?
While it is human nature to want to know about the other person, their name, age, what they look like, where they live, this information is not needed to carry on a conversation. If someone presses you for this type of information, back away! Especially if the requests come early in your relationship. Most users with legitimate intentions will realize WHY you are reluctant to tell them, and will respect your desire to play it safe.
If you are under the age of 18 NEVER meet up with someone you have only met online unless your parents not only know who this person is, but agree to go along with you to the meeting.
If you feel you just must meet a new online acquaintance, NEVER go alone, and ALWAYS meet in a very public place like a popular coffee shop, a busy shopping mall, or similar place.
Never include your real name, or any elements of it. Choose something fun, yet gender neutral. You may think that having a risqué screen name is cute, but be advised, you will attract the type of people your screen name appeals to. A screen name such as “Panda” is much less provocative than “SexMagnet”. And much less offensive to many of your fellow netizens.
People come in all temperaments, and as in real life, there are those who will try to provoke you into an argument. This type of activity is becoming all too common online these days. Many people feel power through the anonymity that the keyboard gives them. Therefore, if you encounter someone who is rude in online chats, ignore them, back away! Most importantly, resist the urge to strike back at them. This type of person craves the attention their behavior brings them. Deprived of this attention, most either quit acting like jerks, or else move on. Either way, you have avoided a confrontation that can quickly escalate into a full-fledged harassment situation.