Making choices about sharing information online

Before engaging in conversations about online safety you have to understand your own safety standards so you can make informed choices. Draw some conclusions about what personal information you want to share, what information you are willing to share in certain circumstances, and what information you don’t ever want to be shared.

Discuss the ripple effect of sharing information. Ask whether people in your family are comfortable with how far the ripples carry your information and who else might be affected. Keep in mind the concept of how information placed online can be permanent and where this information might be shared in the future. Once you are comfortable with your level of sharing, ask this second set of questions:

• What information are others sharing about you?

• With whom are they sharing your information?

Agree about the permission settings you want to establish to determine who has access to your family’s information. These settings typically include:

• Public – allows every Internet user (over 2 billion people) to see your information.

• Friends of friends – allows your friends and their friends to see your information. Remember that the friend of a friend is likely to be a stranger.  

• Friends only – only the people in your friends/buddies list can see all your information.

• Private - you decide who (if anyone) can see your information. Some people may choose to keep their site entirely private and use it as their personal diary.

You should have conversations with spouses and partners, family members and extended families, colleagues and even employers, clubs, organizations, churches, charities or other groups you are affiliated with or were affiliated with in the past. You should also have discussions with the parents of your children’s friends if your child is going online at their houses. Work towards an understanding about what information each person needs to protect for their safety, and what information they are comfortable with sharing and with whom.

Many families with minor children like to establish an Internet Safety Contract posted near the PC, game console or another high-traffic online location. This can serve as a reminder of what was agreed to.