Search results for "\"facebook privacy\""

Celebrity Identity Theft – Fraud from the Inside

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This morning, I delivered a fraud training speech in Beverly Hills. As you can imagine, the famous and the wealthy tend to suffer more than the average person from information overexposure and fraud. They are, after all, public figures, worth a great deal, and the focus of over-zealous fans and media. The rich and famous are the perfect storm for information abuse, and we have much to learn from the way they protect their privacy. Dishonest people want to be them, at least long enough to drain their sizable resources, and their family and friends aren’t often far behind. Identity theft and other types of fraud, unfortunately, allow this fantasy to become a reality in the hands of a clever impostor.

The rich and famous are the perfect storm for information abuse, and we have much to learn from the way the protect their privacy.

Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Facebook, Cigarettes and Information Addiction

Facebook AddictionFacebook is a cigarette, information is the nicotine, and you are the addict. And it is time to stop blaming Facebook if you get privacy cancer.

Years ago, after a long and drawn out fight, the tobacco industry was forced to put labels on their cigarette packs warning smokers that these nicotine delivery devices caused cancer, birth defects and premature death. The warnings did little to slow down sales of cigarettes, though they might have helped the tobacco companies avoid some costly lawsuits because, after all, they had clearly warned users about the dangers.

With the latest iteration of privacy settings being introduced this week on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg (or more likely the brilliant Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg) has discovered a similar truth – you are either too addicted to the information drug, or too indifferent to the privacy consequences, to care.

Posted in Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Sileo’s Fox & Friends Appearance

For media inquiries, please contact Liz on 800.258.8076.

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Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Sileo In the News by Identity Theft Speaker .
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5 Steps to Good Privacy Habits

People will do something—including changing their behavior—only if it can be demonstrated that doing so is in their own best interests as defined by their own values.
—Marshall Goldsmith, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

People don’t change bad habits until they have a compelling reason. Too often that compelling reason is the result of a habit’s negative outcome; but the promise of positive rewards resulting from the establishment of good habits can be a strong motivator. In the workplace, aligning responsible information stewardship with personal and professional gain can set the stage for good privacy habits.

Here are 5 steps you can take towards perfecting your own Privacy Habits:

  1. Tighten up online passwords. Create strong, alphanumeric passwords. Instead of your password being Sunflower make it $uNf(0w3R.  Don’t use common password reminders such as your dog’s name, street address, or mother’s maiden name. All of those would be easily uncovered by an identity thief.

Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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The Facebook Movie Will Prove You’re an Addict

The new movie on Facebook entitled “The Social Network” released its first teaser trailer. The film, better recognized as “The Facebook Movie,” follows the early days of the world’s most powerful social networking site. It follows Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, from the creation of the website through the destruction of a friendship with his co-founders. In the process, it exposes the history behind the information sharing site that Facebook users will wish they knew sooner.

Facebook has had overwhelming success and gained huge momentum since they began in a Harvard dorm room in 2005. Their ability to get you and I to share personal information that we normally wouldn’t has made privacy a huge concern with the site.  Zukerberg has faced scrutiny recently with the privacy changes that make more of your information available to businesses on Facebook that purchase your data in order to sell to you in a more targeted way.

Posted in Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Facebook Safety Survival Guide

Introducing the Newest Guide to Protect you & your family’s identity:

Facebook Safety
Survival Guide

Includes the

Parents’ Guide to Online Safety

Order your copy Today to get our special introductory pricing of $12.95 or order the Ebook below for only $9.95 !

There is no final word on how to use Facebook safely. Here’s why: social networking and the web change too quickly. The social network you use today is not the same one you will use tomorrow or next month. The privacy settings, functionality, connectability and features are constantly evolving, which means that almost no one has a handle on every aspect of this topic. Those who tell you that they have the final answer are probably selling you something you shouldn’t buy.

Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Facebook Announces New Privacy Settings

Last week we announced that Facebook was changing their privacy settings – again! Well the new changes have arrived and should be active on your Facebook the next time you log in. The Instructions that will lead you through the new settings will be posted at the top of your mini-feed:

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By clicking on the Learn More button you will be directed to the Controlling How You Share Page:

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This page will contain a long list of descriptions of your privacy settings, what you can control and what is made public and out of your control.  Click Edit your privacy settings to make the appropriate changes to protect your information and what you want to share on Facebook.

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Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker .
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You are Facebook’s Inventory

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This quote by Daniel Lyons in Newsweek establishes exactly why Facebook drags it’s feet on privacy. Why write more when he has summarized it so eloquently (emphasis mine)?

The most important thing to understand about Facebook is that you are not Facebook’s customer, you are its inventory. You are the product Facebook is selling. Facebook’s real customers are advertisers. You, as a Facebook member, are useful only because you can be packaged up and sold to advertisers. The more information Facebook can get from you, the more you are worth.

Read the full Newsweek article: Who Needs Friends Like Facebook?.

Order the Facebook Safety Survival Guide to make sure you and your children are protected online.

Posted in Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Facebook Changing Privacy Settings – Again!

Facebook faced major backlash last month after they implemented a new tool that linked your interests to sites across the Internet and allowed third parties access to your information unless you specifically deny such access. As we mentioned in yesterday’s blog about an easy way to configure your privacy settings in Facebook, there are 50 different settings with more than 170 options!

Many Facebook users have been extremely vocal about their frustrations, even organizing efforts to quit the quickly growing site. According to CNN Facebook will be reversing these changes today to make them simpler for the user with the intent of increasing user privacy.

“I can confirm that our new, simpler user controls will begin rolling out tomorrow. I can’t say more yet,” Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes told CNN in an e-mail Tuesday.

Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker .
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