Privacy & Confidentiality

Privacy and confidentiality are important issues in new media

With new media, people are encouraged to create information by expressing themselves freely. Some people are really public about their personal lives on Facebook even the things they post will remain there indefinitely. Doing so can hurt them when looking for a job because employers now add to their traditional background check a tour on Facebook and other networking sites. If they find unpleasant information about a person applying for a job, the person will most likely not be hired. Moreover, revealing information as phone numbers, addresses, names, birthdays, social security numbers and credit card information may lead to identity theft.

If it's not us that are misusing new media, it is new media that is using us. Notably, Facebook has had many privacy and security issues recently because it used private information for marketing purposes as a way to generate revenues. Precisely, Facebook was faced with a lawsuit concerning its like button.

So, with experience, a lot of people are not aware that privacy and confidentiality are not assured when dealing with new media. It is up to us to protect ourselves by not posting any information that could be detrimental to our reputation. By information, I mean personal information, pictures, statements that can get us in trouble and such. I also recommend to take time to master the privacy settings and make the best use of them!

Thanks for reading! And please use new media carefully! :)