The Internet is a powerful tool that connects you to friends, other college and university students, family, and people around the world. Facebook and MySpace are popular places to find people having similar interests, form groups, get to know future college roommates and suite mates, share photos, and make new friends, all in an online community.

As these communities have gained popularity and become mainstream in the lives of college students, we are beginning to learn how this information can have a negative impact on others and the future lives of college students.

Here are strategies to use when posting personal information to the Internet (including Facebook, MySpace, IM, personal blogs and websites, etc.):

• Be selective with the content of personal information that is posted
• Avoid posting phone numbers and personal address information
• Avoid posting information about your whereabouts (class schedule, work schedule, when you’ll be home, etc.)
• Be aware that information posted is available to anyone with Internet access
• Utilize the privacy and security settings available in online social networking sites and chat programs

If you become aware of a crime, observe a suspicious person or situation, or are a victim yourself, promptly report it to Campus Safety & Police at x5555.

The short answer is yes. Did you know that 77% of employers are uncovering your online digital dirt by searching the Internet and that 35% of employers have eliminated a candidate based on information found online? Click here to watch “About Face,” an NBC news broadcast that highlighted how “social websites like MySpace and Facebook are being used by some employers to delve into the lives of job candidates and make critical decisions about students’ futures.”

Information posted online is available to anyone with Internet access, including parents, grandparents, faculty and staff, future employers, and the police. If you wouldn’t be comfortable with others seeing or knowing information about you, then don’t post it.

Once you post information online, you can’t take it back. Even if you delete information from a site, older versions exist on other people’s computers and servers. For example, Google keeps digital copies of web pages. This means that a page deleted months ago could still accessible to others.

Here are some stories about how employers are using your information:

• “Dusting Your Digital Dirt” from ABC’s Good Morning America
• “Facebook: Friend or Foe?” from College Recruiter.com
• “How to Clean Up Your Digital Dirt” from the CollegeJournal (The Wall Street Journal)
• “Job Applicants' Online Musings Get Hard Look” from The Boston Globe
• “What You Say Online Could Haunt You” from USA Today
• "Thoughts on Facebook" from Cornell University

Identity theft is the illegal use of someone else’s personal information (such as Social Security numbers, bank account or credit card numbers, telephone calling card numbers, and other valuable identifying data), typically for economic gain. Every year over 10 million people become victims of identify theft.

How can I protect myself from identity theft?

• Watch this video produced by the Federal Trade Commission
• Visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website
• Visit the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse's website and take their identity fraud quizzes
• Visit Brown University’s website on identity theft
• Visit Pepperdine University’s website on identity fraud