What You Should Never Reveal Online
Since many of us are doing business online, it helps to know what you can’t reveal online—and why:
- Your Birthday. Or at least your year of birth. On at least one money transfer website, your birthday is used to confirm any withdrawal of funds.
- Your Email. More websites are using your email as the username for logins. Do you want to make it easier for people to figure out your password, by letting them know your username? And don’t get me started on spammers.
- Your Name on Official Documents. Companies use your “official” name as proof that you are who are.
- Your Mother’s Maiden Name. At least one credit company asks for your mother’s maiden name to confirm your identity over the phone.
To follow: how to keep these valuable tidbits of information from falling into the wrong hands. What else should we keep private online?
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6 opinions for What You Should Never Reveal Online
Neerav
Mar 21, 2008 at 4:28 pm
That is excellent advice Rico
It really worries me when people add their name, address, phone number, birthday etc etc to social networking sites like Facebook
Those are exactly the same questions banks and other institutions ask when they’re identifying you on the phone!!
Stumbled this page so more people read it
Joff
Mar 21, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Great advice - people are far too easy to give up their life story making it simple for others to get access to your bank accounts.
As an aside to that, always shred your statements as many banks also confirm identity with questions like “how much is your mobile phone bill / mortgage each month”, which is nice and easy to find on the statement you threw in the bin last week.
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Mar 22, 2008 at 9:44 am
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Rico
Mar 23, 2008 at 3:17 am
Neerav: Thanks, I hope this will help people become more careful about their details!
Joff: Great addition Joff, especially since you’ve reminded me that the exploitation of personal information can also happen offline.
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Mar 23, 2008 at 10:10 pm
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