I think a lot of people in Spacehey are not aware of basic internet safety, everytime i pop into a new blog to snoop around i am able to see many personal details, sometimes attached to legal names!! o_O;; So i wanted to take time to give some small tips, because in this day and age it is easier than ever to find information in the internet, and lots of you do not take that in serious -.-;
1. Use fake names: This first one is an easy one. Do not use your real name online, specially if it is a unique one! Sure, there is nothing wrong with telling your first name, but when you use entire legal names.... o~o
I advise using a fake name, choose a name of your favorite character, celebrity, even food!
Maybe this will seem silly, after all there ARE millions of people named the same things worlwide, but when paired with more identifiable information as country, age, social status or other, it makes you easy to identify!
2. Do not tell strangers your age: This is not about identifying as much as it is about becoming an easy target for malicious people.
I've noticed there are many users that tell their age when they are as young as 13, and it is scary! I know the "internet strangers" mith is old, and a lot of it fearmongering... but now more than ever we know it to be true that there are people out to predate and groom on young and vulnerable teenagers. I'm not telling to use a fake age (it can also be harmful to do so! specially if you are doing it to access adult exclusive spaces), but hiding your age from strangers on the internet is preferable.
3. Do not tell people where you live!!!: It does not matter if they are your friend, or you've known them for a long while, unless you are an adult do not tell your exact location!! specially in your bio, where anybody can see!!!! Country is fine, if you live in a very dense zone it is even ok to tell your state/province/prefecture/etc, but your specific location (ex: telling your specific district) is a no.
4. Avoid personal details: by this I mean avoiding details such as "We moved to NYC!", "I went to the convenience store two streets down!", "There is a new Italian restaurant right in front of my house!", "I have to take the bus to go to school because it is in a different district" or others of that nature.
Is more tricky (I am even guilty of this one -u-;;), but telling small personal details can lead people to figure out where you are specifically located. Example: using the previous details, I can narrow down exponentialy the location to places in New York, USA, that haveĀ Restaurants in front, Nearby convenience stores and bus stops, plus by asking innocent seeming follow up questions, such as "what bus do you take?", "at what hour does your bus run" or "how long do you travel to your school?" (in more innocent wording, of course--I do not believe any of you would answer to a complete stranger asking in such a direct and creepy way xP), I could narrow down the options even further.
Doxxing is a very real concern in this day and age, people use this as a punishment for the most small things such as disagreeing online or just existing in a way people dislike, please do not believe you are safe only because "people do not have reasons to find out info about me!"
5. Please do not post pictures of yourself or surrounding areas: Last one is self explanatory; If you post pictures of yourself I already know what you look like and it makes it very easy for me to find out who you are, more if paired with information previous to this one. If you post pictures of surrounding areas it is easy for me to find out where you live-- We have all seen what GeoGuesser players are capable of!!
I hope these tips are of any help to anyone. Take them more as sugestions than guidelines, after all being paranoid and trying to hide yourself maniatically does not help either, not everyone will try to hurt you but some people have bad intentions, and it is better to be safe than sorry!! . Have fun and please be careful out there -v-;;
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