Personal Information Online

By Sharon Marek, Web Developer UNT Central Web Support

Many people think that the Internet is somehow different from the real world. That you can shop in secret, and post anonymously -- that there is some kind of privacy associated with being online. But that's not the case. And it shouldn't be, most of the time. You should know what information is available about you, however, and how it's gathered.

Even people that have never visited a Web site or sent an E-mail message have records online. Everything from your home address to your birthday could be available -- to anyone that wants to find it. Try 411.com (http://www.411.com/) for phonebook style listings, or WorldPages (http://www.worldpages.com/) for listings plus a localized map. This kind of information is readily available offline,so it should be no surprise that it's available online as well.

And I wasn't kidding about the birthday site. A quick search at AnyBirthday.com (http://www.anybirthday.com/) should be revealing. Remember, voter registration cards and drivers licenses are public records also, available to anyone that requests them. 

Have you ever searched for something online, and noticed, as the search results are displayed, that the ad banner is suddenly relevant? Search for "used cars" on HotBot (http://www.hotbot.com/), for instance, and marvel at the coincidence of the resulting ad banner. But it's not a coincidence. It's cookies. Cookies are a marvelous resource - they allow Webmasters to see how people use their sites, making redesigns more relevant. They allow you to buy any number of things online. Cookies facilitate targeted advertising (as in the HotBot example). For many people, this is a good thing. But there are some worrying trends, most particularly, who has access to those cookies? If this is a subject that interests you, check out this article at Slashdot (motto: "News for Nerds. Stuff That Matters.")

And for those of you that post to newsgroups, the best known Usenet archive, Deja.com (formerly DejaNews  http://www.deja.com), offers a fairly unique service -- the ability to view author profiles. Every newsgroup posted to from the specified email address will be listed, with the number of posts to each. And you can read those posts in two clicks - one on the newsgroup, one on the subject line. This is something to keep in mind when posting to Usenet. The funny flame you sent as a sophomore might not be so funny when a potential employer reads it. (No kidding! Read all about the possibilities in this article from Wired online.)

So the Internet, and its component parts, aren't so divorced from the real world after all. Maybe it would be a good idea to "Think Before You Click."