Online Privacy & Social Media Marketing Blog

Which is More Important, Safety or Privacy?

The United States mines data to protect its citizens. As much as I value my privacy, I'm willing to compromise some privacy in exchange for safety although I recognize this provides opportunity for abuse. See video by by AlJazeera below. What…

Apps, Cell Phones, Cyber Bullying, Internet Privacy, Internet Safety, Predators, Protecting Children, Reputation, Sexting, Snapchat, Social Media, Twitter

What Social Media Apps and Sites are Popular with Kids these days?

Social media has many positive attributes but there’s no denying potential dangers such as reputation damage and exposure to predators, identity thieves and cyber bullies. New social media sites crop up regularly and it’s challenging keeping…

Cell Phones, Cyber Privacy, Internet Privacy, Private browsing, Tracking

Private Browsing – How to Surf Incognito

Incognito web browsing is private Internet surfing and it differs from non-private surfing because history of an incognito session does not get saved to the hard drive. When surfing incognito, cache or cookies are not left behind to provide…

Cyber Privacy, Email, Internet Privacy

The State of Privacy in 2013

An insightful infographic by HostGator depicts the state of privacy in 2013. The infographic draws attention to the similarity of current privacy to the totalitarian state of privacy described in George Orwell's classic, 1984, which…

Cyber Privacy, Internet Privacy, Internet Safety, Reputation, Reputation Management

5 Reputation Management Techniques for Protecting your Online Privacy

Reputation management is the process of monitoring and controlling how you are perceived online. Damage to your reputation can be self-inflicted, such as when you post a public Facebook status about how much you hate your boss. It can also…

Cyber Privacy, Internet Privacy, Internet Safety, Protecting Children

Products and Services that Protect Children Online

Recent cyberbullying-related suicides led to several powerful online discussions about effective ways to protect children and teens. (see one introduction below) We discussed ways to teach children to be respectful, responsible and compassionate…

Facebook, Internet Privacy, Internet Safety, Protecting Children, Snapchat, Social Media

How to Protect your Child on Social Networks

Protecting our children’s privacy on social networks is an ongoing challenge that begins at a young age and continues after they leave home for college or work. Let’s face it, many kids know more about social networks and technology than…

Cyber Relationships, Cyber Scams, Internet Safety, Predators, Social Media

Was I a Victim of an Online Predator?

One would think that someone who writes and talks about Cyber Privacy and Cyber Safety would be immune to online predators, right? Nope. Wrong! Online predators extend beyond the stereotypical dangerous ones who want to steal private information…

Apps, Facebook, Internet Privacy, Social Media, Twitter

Do you know when apps are posting or tweeting as if they’re you?

A friend asked me if I could explain how a Facebook post in his name appeared in his wife’s news feed when he had no recollection of typing it. My guess was that he likely gave an app permission to post on his behalf and either forgot about…

Cyber Scams, Email, Facebook, Phishing

I just became a Phishing Fool

A few days ago I warned readers about phishing scams and today, I became a victim. How utterly embarrassing! Take a quick look at this email. If you're a regular Facebook user, would you question it as a legitimate Facebook notification? At…

Cyber Scams, Email, Phishing

Phishing for Bank of America Fools

Phishing emails are usually easy to spot but that does not mean an intelligent (or busy) individual is safe from becoming a victim of a phishing scam. (Forgive me for using "fool" in the title - it fit nicely with the "f" pronunciation of…

Internet Privacy, Private browsing, Social Media, Tracking

How to easily see who is tracking you

As we surf the Web, our browsing habits and personal data are tracked by third parties, often without our knowledge or our permission. As consumers, we want it all. We want products and services that meet our needs and solve our problems,…

Cell Phones, Cyber Security, Passwords

How to Protect your Smartphone from Mobile Attacks

With increasing popularity of tablets and more than 1 billion smartphone users in the world, access and storage of sensitive data and information via mobile devices has increased dramatically. Simultaneously, mobile attacks including device…

Email, Internet Privacy, Social Media

The email I wish I had never sent

Condominium hotline discussions can result in loads of emails and I had to laugh when I got batches about dog poop in common areas of our condominium complex. But what was funny at first soon became annoying as email after email cluttered up…

Cyber Privacy, Internet Privacy, Protecting Children, Reputation

You’ve set up a Google Alert on yourself, right?

Google Alerts provide an easy way to monitor the web for content that is of interest to us. These alerts can tell us what information is appearing on the Internet about our business, ourselves, our children, our family members and even our competition.…