DocAndersen
One of the things that I know, as a technologist, I often forget is an impact. So, today, let’s start with the impact statement. I know, and I understand that many technology devices do not apply to many people. You get and use what you need. That is not some kind of cosmic learning or revelation that came to me after I was in a thunderstorm hiding under the bed. It is the simple reality of the world. People get and use what they need. I wanted to post this today to let people know that truly understand that sometimes the tech posts I make, are so far beyond anything anyone is interested in today, that it can be confusing! If you are confused, let me know! I will try and explain the problem differently.
You cannot hurt my feelings by asking that question. My very first blog post, now 14 years ago on the old Windows Live blogs was about Customer service. In particular the horrible customer service of a company I had the misfortune of dealing with. They, the company in question, was selling a VOIP or what is called Voice over IP. More simply, it means that you send and receive voice information via your computer. This can be done by a stand-alone application (Skype, Jabber, Whatsapp, Facebook, and so on). Or this can be an application such as the company I had tried out. Vonage, I will never do business with Vonage again. Their service, their product, and finally, customer service were so awful; I wrote my first blog.
From there, I have evolved my blog considerably. The first thing is I don’t mention names unless the customer services are so bad, then I mention the company name. I also realized that if you are not careful, you can accidentally give away PII. PII, is the security moniker for the concept of Personally identifiable information, in other words, enough PII and someone can steal your identity. So I stopped using names of the people in my life to avoid a data spill (data spill is a security term for when information that should include et out gets out). That got me thinking about the impact of information on people so, I am thinking about publishing rules of the road post to help folks consider avoiding issues.
Here are a couple of examples:
1, NEVER post when you are on vacation. Or, post vacation pictures after you get back!
2. Don’t share information that can be used to identify you easily. (mothers maiden name, the day you were born etc.)More to come!
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Question of
Will you share your best (or many) online safety tips in the comments?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do spam or sales calls and emails annoy you?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you regularily check to see if the email or phone call was a scam?
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Yes
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No
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I just dismiss spam and don’t take any more notice than I do of TV ads
It is frustrating at times. But dismissing is a great way to move on!!!!
I hate spam calls with a passion. I do not answer numbers that call me unless they are in my phone. And I do not call them back unless they send me a text of who they are or they leave a message. I’am pretty much the same with emails, too. If it is not a business I’am currently dealing with then I just don’t open the email. As for things like birthdate shared, that is something I need to get better at concealing. There is a site called mylife.com that has negative information about me, as I’am sure it does about others. It is like a online yelp page, but about people. Its more like a judgement based off of information found of the person online.
I agree with you completely, they are annoying at best!
Q: Will you share your best (or many) online safety tips in the comments?
Yes (7 votes) – 70%
No (3 votes) – 30%
Q: Do spam or sales calls and emails annoy you?
Yes (8 votes) – 89%
No (1 votes) – 11%
Q: Do you regularily check to see if the email or phone call was a scam?
Yes (7 votes) – 78%
No (2 votes) – 22%
I generally see where and how much I am sharing and what shared info could put me in trouble. The fact that artificial intelligence even in its infancy stage is powerful enough to get lot of your info through behavioral data access capacity.
That is good, it is like a bank account. You know what you put in. You know what you took out.
Manage!!!!!
I actually feel that the companies are happy to put your information at risk and then sell you a product to keep you safe. I am really tired of non responsive platforms having me interface with glitchy chatbots if I have an issue. I have never felt that any were helpful and don’t believe they actually care. I had people in my accounts before. It kind of put me off my computer for a while. I also will say this: There are very few platforms I have used that have not had MAJOR data breaches in the last five years. I can’t control their sloppy and uncaring managing of their systems. I can only limit and mitigate the potential damage they expose me to.
You have a couple of great points, Howard. The first is security is YOU FIRST! Always! I always tell people that is the first step to not getting hacked!
Your second point about chatbots is one I echo!
I would say, your point about companies creating a problem, and selling the solution has been an internet rumor for many years. It really isn’t true.
as I am promoting my art, I need to be contactable by potential clients. when I am not, I just use a handle, and how much personal information outside of my location have I given out?
I won’t ask you your security on the first part. That is an interesting business problem.
I just have an email address, no phone number…
that is a great gateway! Does the web site you sent me have any of your current stuff? I was thinking of a strangelove poster for the basement 🙂
I just fixed Afraid of Sunlight last month, and it has only had two updates since then, so it is less up to date than virily but it does consist exclusively of release versions, some of which aren’t published anywhere else
I haven’t actually released the strangelove piece as a print, but if you want one just slip me a twenty somehow and tell me which version you’re interested in and I’ll do the full size render…
deal 🙂
I will PM you with a couple of ideas for the money transfer 🙂
I will go back and look at the site again!
🙂
I will do another update after I get back from *sigh* utah
No one ever returns from Utah the same 🙂
why do I keep doing this to myself?
First, build a time-machine.
Second, go back to before your first trip back to Utah.
Ask yourself what you are doing.
That sadly is the only way to answer that question.
if I had a time machine, I’d use it for better reasons…
I figured. But seriously going back to the origin, the first cave art and renaming all the colors just to mess with people isn’t a good use of your time, Alex.
😉
It worked the first time… the Bird Man of Lascaux? mine
ROFL
thanks I really needed a laugh today!!!!
glad I was able to help with that…
Thank you very much for sharing the advice. I never send any data online. I just delete spam bots
just delete is a great solution!!!! That is exactly what you should do…
These are great tips to stay secure online. When I started working online, many of my offline friends were skeptical about this idea. They are all afraid of getting scammed. I continued anyway. My reason was, I will start exploring the online field alone and I will not pay anything from my own pocket. After 7 years, I can say that I am earning a good amount.
Yes, I have been scammed but those gave me lessons. I also learned lessons from other’s experiences. Learning from others’ mistakes are the best lessons for me.
One lesson: Never open your site through an email message. Always use the browser.
I always tell people the following:
1. always right click on links sent to you, to see if they2 are valid. Apple doesn’t send you to 1212.com 🙂
2. Governments seldom send emails.
Nice and interesting post.
thanks, what did you find interesting?
Great safety tips you listed. So many will plaster vacation pics on Facebook and it just really bothers me. They are not using their brain.
We all should change our passwords very often as well. And think outside the box with your passwords. Nothing to do with your pet or favorite color, etc.
I do worry about people posting vacation pictures.
Complex passwords are forgotten – but fun passphrases are perfect.
I have a purely simple security system that is sufficient for my needs …. I do not have any such data on the computer … I have a spam since I simply can not open it and just delete it
That is always a good model! I am glad to hear you are secure!!!
At least I think that I …. I consulted with a computer master and I was told that this security system is sufficient for me
That is always important – good that you checked!
I will share best security tips in my upcoming article
Best is a funny word. Best by whose definition?