Survey Reveals that Privacy Options on Social Media Are Especially Important to Women
According to the results of a survey of 2028 Internet users in the U.S. conducted by Morar Consulting, women, much more than men, see Internet privacy as something about which to be acutely concerned. The results show that men care about it, as well���just not to the same degree.
The results were arrived at through a compilation of answers derived from questions that addressed the subject of Internet privacy in different ways. For example, on a question that asked how likely is it that the respondent would put sensitive, personal information on a social media profile, 78% of the women said it is ���extremely unlikely��� they would do so, while 63% of the men surveyed felt the same way. When asked if they would even disclose such information in a chat forum, 76% of women declared they would be ���extremely unlikely��� to do so, while only 60% men felt the same way.
More broadly, 52% of women surveyed said they lacked confidence that websites they visited would be able to protect them from ���security problems,��� while just 33% of men said so.
Intuitively, it makes sense that women would be more concerned about the vulnerabilities associated with being overexposed on social media and elsewhere on the Internet. It has to be said, though, that a lot of people, women included, are guilty of doing an especially poor job of employing even simple safeguards to help stay secure when using social media. I think that many of us have had the experience, when using Facebook, of clicking on the names of users who are not our own Facebook ���friends,��� and being surprised at how much information we can glean. The one ���pet peeve��� of mine in this regard has to do with the pictures of children that too many post and leave unprotected to the prying eyes of Facebook trolls with whom they have no identifiable connection or association. Let���s set aside, for the moment, that no one ���has��� to post any pictures���or anything at all, for that matter���to social media; if you do insist on putting such photos online, you owe it to all concerned to make certain that only those who are truly in your inner circle can see them.
Of course, genuine Internet privacy and safety involves much more than maintaining the right settings on social media; it demands the implementation of solid, comprehensive security measures that help ensure not only can nefarious individuals not grab a foothold in your private life or access your sensitive information, but that you will have the ability to navigate the Internet largely in complete anonymity.
A great resource to help get you where you need to be in this regard is The Patriot Privacy Kit ebook, something we have previously recommended. The Patriot Privacy Kit provides a ton of useful information on how to stay safe online. One of the many product features I like is the outlining of the procedure, shown step-by-step and graphically displayed using actual screen shots, demonstrating how to ���lock down��� your Facebook page. The material contains a lot more information, of course, including how to secure your computer hardware and software platforms, how to be a good steward of your all-important passwords, how to use email more securely���even how to surf the web anonymously. This comprehensive resource also includes great information on how to secure your sensitive information offline (even in this ���Internet age,��� most ID theft still takes place that way, from the compromise of documents in a physical form). Something else - The Patriot Privacy Kit comes with a fantastic money-back guarantee, which means you can read and use the information through and through���and if you���re still not satisfied, you can get all of your money back, with no fuss. If you want to learn more about The Patriot Privacy Kit, Click Here.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
