?Five Ways that Your Personal Information Finds Its Way to the Internet

You think that you are so careful when it comes to revealing your personal information on the Internet. However, you willingly provide information in a number of instances that you probably don’t even realize. No matter what medium you work in, knowledge is power and if online marketers get a hold of your personal information, you will receive unsolicited mail, emails, phone calls and more. The dark side is that a hacker or identity thief could get a hold of your information as well for nefarious purposes.

If you are curious as to how your efforts to maintain your privacy are being combated, read on for five ways that your personal information finds its way to the Internet:

1. Your Internet service provider (ISP) is a vulnerable area in which personal information about you might leak to third parties. There are a number of Internet service providers around the world from the bigwigs like MSN and AOL to the smaller, regional mom and pop operations. Each ISP has its own privacy policy and it is up to you to obtain those and decide if their security is adequate for your needs. You see, each computer has a special address called an Internet protocol (IP) address that is identifiable over the Internet. Some websites capture and record those IP addresses to determine where you are geographically. Someone online cannot directly access any personal information in this way. They could, through your IP address, figure out who your ISP is and follow the trail back in order to hack into their databanks and steal information in that way.

2. Opt-in lists and discussion groups are another vulnerable area where your personal information could find its way onto the Internet. Anything you make comments on or email about could be captured and saved. Email distribution lists from these discussion groups are often not shielded so other people could see your email address along with many others.

3. Browsing the Internet can often open your personal information up to the public without your knowledge. Each time you use an Internet browser, your IP address is often relayed to web sites as well as your search history. In turn, online advertisers can then target you with pop-up ads and other advertisements. In addition, each time you visit a website, a cookie is stored onto your computer. It is like a little file, which may store login information as well as other activities you may have executed the last time you visited the site. Web advertisers often can get access to these cookies and gobble them up and digest all that information to tailor specific ads and offers just for you.

4. Blogging opens up many ways that your personal information could be obtained through the Internet. A blog is basically an online journal of events. And many people have personal blogs in which they reveal daily facts about their lives. Unless the blog is restricted, the general public could find it. It wouldn’t take an enterprising identity thief very long to piece together your personal history and figure out who you are, even if you use only first names.

5. Bill paying online can be a great way for you to stay on top of your finances. However, you want to ensure that any information you relay is done on a secure web site. Check for the https:// in the address bar line or the little closed lock icon on the bottom right of the screen. Many people have been fooled with phishing schemes where they receive an email, supposedly from their bank to verify some information. When you click on a link in those phishing emails, boom! Someone’s got your personal information. Your bank or financial institution will never send you an email asking you to re-verify your information. If there were some security issue, they would call you or mail something explaining the security issue.

There are a number of ways in which your personal information can find its way onto the Internet. Even the most diligent of measures can be thwarted by the simplest of things like a blog or posting an instant message or paying a bill online.

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