Today is National Child Day – also the 20^th anniversary of the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention of the Rights of the Child and made privacy a basic human right for everyone under the age of eighteen.

This means that privacy is your right. And with today’s world being so different than it was 20 years ago, this is something you may not think much about. Today, you are videotaped by security cameras almost everywhere you go. You are asked for your postal code or driver’s license when you buy a pair of jeans. You can instant message, update your status, download music, talk to friends on Facebook and play games on your computer with people all around the world. Twenty years ago if someone wanted to get in touch with you they had to phone you or send you a postcard!

Today, it is so easy to forget about privacy and why it’s important. And it’s easy to forget about the risks that are out there if you don’t protect your personal information. These risks can range from nuisance (all those marketers who are looking for people to target their ads to) to serious (from the people on the Internet who are looking for identities to steal, to the predators looking for victims). It’s also easy to forget that when you post comments, photos and videos, online, that information is public and permanent and almost impossible to remove.

So today, on National Child Day, we wanted to remind you that privacy is your right. And today is your day. So take some time to look around youthprivacy.ca. Click through the pages and find out how you can have fun online while protecting this valuable basic human right.

Our Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart is worried that maybe you don’t. After conducting an investigation into Facebook’s privacy policies, we’re now turning our attention to you as the school year gets underway. Because while you may be savvy about using social media, many of you still may not know how to create a secure online identity.

If you’re listening to the radio today you may hear a message from our office that we created especially for you. In case you miss it, we’ve provided clips from it for you here. The gist of it is that many young people are still jeopardizing their safety, and possibly compromising their futures, by sharing photos and information – some of it inappropriate – with people they don’t know… people who may not be who they say they are.

You need to always be aware that the personal information that you post online could be used in a variety of shady ways, from embarrassing you, to stealing your identity – even for finding out where you live, go to school, or your plans for the weekend. Our radio message urges young people (and their parents and teachers) to regularly visit youthprivacy.ca for information on safely using the Internet and social networking sites.

The message also reminds everyone that we’re inviting all young people, between the ages of 12 and 18, to participate in our second annual video contest. Create a one- to two-minute public service announcement on the importance of privacy by Friday, December 11th and you could win some really cool prizes!

As part of the Internet Generation, you get it when we discuss social networking sites, blogging, online shopping – often you know more about these things than many of the older people around you! But if you can teach us about new technologies, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada can teach you the importance of protecting your identity in all spheres of life and about the realities of identity theft.

As mentioned in the “Identity Theft and You” section of our main website, “There’s no widespread agreement on the meaning of identity theft,” but the term is used for “everything from cheque forgery and the use of stolen credit cards to sophisticated scams in which an impostor adopts somebody else’s identity to gain access to their assets.” We often associate identity theft with IT geniuses hacking into computer networks – this is sometimes the case and we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to technological development and its close connection to the emergence of new techniques for exploiting personal information. However, identity theft transcends the virtual world, and it often hits much closer to home.
 
Before addressing the profile of “identity thieves” it would be interesting to see if you are a person at risk. Just answer the following simple questions which will reveal a lot about your habits:
 
1)  Do you carry your Social Insurance Number in your wallet?
2)  Do you throw your balance statements and receipts in the garbage?
3)  Have you revealed your PIN code to your friends?
4)  Do you choose passwords that are common and easy to guess?
 
If you responded “yes” to any of these questions you are in danger of being the victim of identity theft.

Next, for a profile of an “identity thief”, we can refer to Benoît Dupont and Guillaume Louis’s second report (“Identity thieves: a common delinquency profile”) from the Université de Montréal’s Canada Research Chair in Security, Identity and Technology. The report states that an alarming 1.7 million Canadians were affected by identity theft in 2008.

They authors also produced a profile of an identity thief that is more frightening than the virtual profiles we tend to associate with these kind of crimes. They found that while more than 45% of cases of identity theft involve Internet use (mostly to commit fraud) the majority of the identity thieves don’t use the cyberspace to acquire information. Instead, they found that many of these criminals are “ordinary individuals”:

•  40% of offenders are women – this may be attributed to the absence of violence inherent to this sort of crime and the possibility of committing the crime without help from an accomplice.
•  The average age is 33 years.
•  64.6% of the offenders acted alone in the majority of cases.

And the approach these identity thieves take to committing theft is as ordinary as the thief’s profile. It’s a far cry from hacking into computer networks: instead, 53.4% of incidents involve the theft of wallets and purses, and fraud.

It turns out that many people choose to steal identities, simply because it’s easy! According to the research, identity theft is attractive because of the low risk involved and the ease of carrying on this activity. Identity theft has one of the fastest growing crime rates seen in recent years1.

As a result, an increasing number of measures are being taken to give you the tools you need to prevent identity theft, but in reality, day-to-day vigilance is necessary above all else.

Here are some Web sites you can visit to get more information on fraud prevention methods and identity theft:

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada – Read the information compiled for individuals such as Identity theft and you.

The Consumer Measures Committee has a great information sheet for you about Identity Theft. You’ll find a quiz that will help you understand if you’re putting yourself at risk for identity theft, as well as information about what to do if you think your identity has been stolen, how to protect yourself when shopping on the Internet and more.

Privacytown – Privacytown is your online guide to protect your privacy and personal information in the age of electronic commerce and new information technologies.

1. Finklea, Kristin M. (2009). Identity theft: Trends and Issues. Congressional Research Service: Washington DC.

Take a minute… What do you think of when you visualize a bully? Did you think of the scariest kid in school who torments kids for their lunch money? Although these types of bullies still exist, there is now a new kind of bully to worry about. This kind doesn’t just steal your lunch money, but will send you nasty text messages from their iPhone or post embarrassing comments on your Facebook wall. Meet the cyberbully.

What exactly is cyberbullying? Cyberbullying involves the use of technology, such as cell phones or the internet, to harass another individual on purpose. Although you may not walk away with bruises or a black eye, cyberbullying can often be much more psychologically damaging than its physical counterpart. Today’s youth are experiencing cyberbullying at an alarmingly increasing rate. Why? Probably because when people believe that they are acting anonymously they are more likely to say hurtful things because they think they won’t get caught.

Many of you may have been a victim – or even the bully – at one point in time. A 2008 cyberbullying survey, conducted by the University or Toronto, indicates that nearly 1 in 5 students have been bullied online in just the last 3 months! Cyberbullying can often have devastating consequences for both the victim and the bully. Not only can it can lead to a student withdrawing from school, but it also contributes to depression, isolation, eating disorders and, in extreme cases, even suicide. In severe cases the police may become involved…this can be bad news for the bully. 

If you are the victim of cyberbullying the Media Awareness Network recommends following these four steps:

• STOP- immediately leave the online environment or activity where bullying is going on.
• BLOCK e-mails or instant messages received from bullies. NEVER RESPOND.
• RECORD all harassing messages and send them to your Internet provider (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.). Most providers have policies about users harassing people on their server.
• TALK to a trusted adult about the cyberbullying; alert the police when bullying involves physical threats.

Long gone are the days where bullies were only found in the playgrounds. Unfortunately, they are now found sitting in their living rooms hiding behind the anonymous wall of their computers.

There is nothing like the freedom you feel when you first receive your driver’s licence! Finally, you can get yourself places without Mom or Dad giving you the third degree in the car, or yelling “I love you, honey!” in front of all of your friends (even though some of you secretly enjoy it). While driving is in itself a very exciting prospect, your driver’s licence has uses other than just being proof of your legal ability to drive.

Your driver’s licence is a piece of photo-ID, meaning that it contains identifying information about you such as your full name, age, height, and where you live, as well as a photo of you. This information is unique to you and is considered personal. It is important to realize that it can provide a direct link to you, and, if it falls into the wrong hands, could result in identity theft or fraud.

All of the information is printed on the licence, and is also coded into the strip on the back. In some provinces, you can also get a licence with a microchip that can broadcast this information to electronic readers nearby.

When stores ask you for your driver’s licence to swipe, ask why. When they swipe your licence, their system might just store ALL the information on the card. In cases like this, it’s very rare for the company or retailer to need all of the information that is provided when your card is swiped. It is a better idea to simply find out what the retailer is looking for and give them the information that you feel comfortable sharing with them, as opposed to them having all of your information on file. In cases of tobacco or liquor sales, swiping your card allows the cashier to confirm that you are in fact of age and that it is legal to sell these products to you.

If you’re underage, borrowing a friend’s ID to buy these restricted substances or for entry intro restricted areas (bars, clubs) is risky business! In doing so, you are actively posing as another person and in effect using their identity. In Ontario, having or using a fake, altered or fraudulently obtained driver’s licence could result in a fine of anywhere from $400 to $50,000. It is also possible to receive jail time for such an offence.

Remember to think it through before you take a $50,000 night on the town!

Have you ever posted personal information or pictures online without thinking about the privacy implications – and then regretted it afterwards? With the increasing popularity of social networking sites we often post without thinking twice. But what happens when you apply for a job, or try out for a competitive sports team – and realize that you’ve got pictures and comments posted online that you’d prefer to keep between you and your friends? Luckily, there are ways you can remove this information!

When it comes to removing information from social networking sites there are a few simple things you can try. (In this instance, when we say “information” we mean anything that you have posted or that someone else has posted about you – status updates, wall posts, pictures, blogs, messages.) Here is what you should do if you’re trying to remove information:

1. The obvious first step is to delete it if you can.

2. If someone else has posted information about you, kindly ask them to take it down.

3. If you can’t take the information off yourself or if someone else is refusing to take down your information, contact the website’s administrator and explain your situation. Here are links to guidelines for removing unwanted items at three popular networking sites:

Facebook
MySpace
LinkedIn

Now that we’ve covered tips on removing information from social networking sites, let’s take a look at search engines. Some of you have probably tried searching your own name on popular search engines such as Google or Yahoo. Here are some tips on what to do if you find something you’d like removed:

1. The first step is finding out what’s out there. This is easy – Google yourself!

2.  Does your name come up in direct correlation with any social networking site, blog or public profile? If it does, and you’d rather it didn’t, this is easy to prevent by using a pseudonym (another word for “username”) instead of  your full name as a username.

3. Contact the person in charge of the site which is displaying your information on Google. Kindly ask them to take the information off.

The best way to avoid having to do any of this is to think ahead from now on. Make sure you think before you click – don’t post anything you might not want up there a few days or even years down the road. This problem is so common that there are now companies who make a profit from people who want information taken off the web. This is because once something is online it often gets stored in so many places that it’s almost impossible to get rid of. Think twice before you post any information online and you won’t have to worry about any of this stuff in the future!

How safe is your information? Only as safe as your password. Without a strong password you’re vulnerable to others accessing your online information. One way to prevent this is by creating a strong password to protect yourself from possible hackers. Making sure that your password is protected is an important part of online activity. The Australian Government has even launched a Change Your Password Day in order to raise awareness about staying safe online.
 
There are many things you can do to create a safe password. The perfect password needs to be long (8 characters or more is recommended). The more characters you use, the stronger your password will be. It should also have a variety of characters. The combining of letters, numbers and symbols makes the password more complex and therefore harder to guess. Your password should incorporate both length and different types of symbols.

It is also very important not to make typical mistakes such as the use of sequences or repeated characters. Using a pattern will make it more likely that another person can predict it. Also, using any part of your name, birthday, social security number, or similar information for your loved ones is a bad password choice. You should also use different passwords for different systems – if one password and online system is compromised, then all of your other information that’s protected by that password could be compromised as well.

To avoid the possibility of security breaches it is important not to reveal your password to others. This includes providing your password through e-mail – especially if you receive an e-mail from a person or organization, asking you for your password.. Many of those requests are scams to gain access to your personal information. You should also be wary of typing passwords on computers that you do not control or own because others may be able to extract your password from that computer after you use them. Lastly, change your passwords regularly to reduce the likelihood of someone accessing your personal information. Happy Change Your Password Day!

Did you know it’s Privacy Awareness Week in the Asia Pacific Region? Check out the three-minute video, featured on our YouTube channel, that the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA) launched to mark the week.

The video features a series of animated scenarios that highlight the potential consequences of posting personal information online. Would you want your grandma, your coach, your teacher to see what you’re posting online? No? Well, then you need to think before you upload!

You bet it can. Case in point: an article on MSNBC detailing a recent post on Twitter, a social networking site that allows you to let “followers” know what you are doing, in 140 characters or less. One hundred and forty characters was all it took for one follower, known as “theconnor” to engage in a “social networking comedy of errors” by boasting about, and then being way too honest about, a job offer s/he had just received:

“Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.”

Not long after the post went up, a representative from the company had responded, “the connor’s” true identity was revealed on the Internet, and a video mocking “theconnor” started circulating on YouTube.

What’s even worse? After seeing the reaction, “theconnor” changed the privacy settings on the Twitter account, making them private, and deleted the content of the home page. But, “it was already too late… thanks to Google Cache, the deleted content of “theconnor’s homepage resurfaced on CiscoFatty.com, a Web site erected to commemorate this cautionary tale”.

The article details other social networking faux pas that resulted in the creation of the term “Facebook fired”.

It just goes to show that nothing on the Internet is private, nothing on the Internet can ever really be deleted – and if you’re not careful about what you post, the Internet can get you fired.