One of the first big rules of internet safety is to protect your personal information, but what does that include? How do you make friends without sharing things about yourself with others?
In this case, “personal information” is information such as:
- Where you live, like your state, town, and address
- Your real name, especially your full name
- Your face in any form, such as photos, videos, or video calls
- Your age
- Your phone number, if you have one
But why keep all this a secret? Well, because each piece of information here could potentially be harmful in the wrong hands.
Your name, face, and age are all a part of your personal identity. While these may be the first things a person learns about you in the real world, online they could be used to find more information about you than you initially wanted to share, breaching your privacy.
Location is also important. If a stranger knows where you live they could send you unwanted mail, track down the names of other people in your home, or at worst even come to your home themself. If any of these events happen to you, tell a trusted adult immediately.
But why not share your phone number? That’s just another way to talk to people, right?
It may seem that way, and a phone is a great way to stay in touch with family and friends you know in-person, but a phone number does actually reveal something important! Your area code, the first three digits of your number, reveals where you live or have lived at some point. Texts through your phone are also unmonitored, meaning anything sent is private and you have less tools to protect yourself. When talking to people online, one of the safest options is to talk on websites that have filters in place which stop people from discussing potentially uncomfortable topics and saying unkind words, though what exactly that means varies between websites. Look for the rules and filters of each site you use! If you want to text or call someone, the best practice is to use messaging apps that have block and report features.
Keep in mind that this list is meant to give you a strong foundation to go off of. There may be things not on the list that you don’t feel comfortable sharing, and nobody online can expect you to share something with them just because it isn’t on the list. What you share or not is up to you!
[Lil Buddy, “Stay safe out there!”]