Sue Scheff Blog

Parent Advocate and Author – Founder of Parents’ Universal Resource Experts

Data Privacy Day: Tips to Protect Your Online Information

by Sue Scheff on Jan 28, 2012

January 28th is Data Privacy Day, who knew! It seems we have a day for so many different things, however I believe that everyday people should be concerned about their privacy and especially their teens and kids informational online. What are they putting out that there that they don’t realize could potentially put them at risk later?

Special guest post by privacy expert, Rebecca Herold.

Rebecca Herold, a Des Moines-based privacy expert, better known as The Privacy Professor explains with the rapid growth of technology, people should be more cautious about what they share.

“Too many folks adopt new technology without fully understanding how it may be capturing or distributing their personal, private information,” she said in a press release. “Whether it’s a smartphone tracking their location or social media sites repurposing their personal photos, often people are simply unaware of what’s being collected and how or with whom it’s being shared. People should continue to be concerned with ‘old-fashioned’ threats like phone scams and crooks digging through trash to find personal information on discarded paper documents and digital storage devices.”

Here are some of Rebecca Herold’s smart tips to help keep your information safe and private:

Read the privacy policy of websites you visit the most. Search for the word “share” and see if the website is open about how it distributes your personal information to others.
Double check privacy settings on social media sites such as Facebook. Read about its new changes and ensure it only shares what you want it to. Read about past Facebook privacy issues here.
Review people connected to you. Ensure you only provide access to your personal profile to people you trust and know well.
Don’t post anything online that you wouldn’t want the whole world to see. Information may be private between you and your friends but friends can repost statuses and other information with/without your consent.
Secure your personal wireless connections.
Invest in a shredder to shred financial or other documents before tossing them.

You can follow Rebecca Herold on Twitter and visit her website.

Most important, talk to your teens about what they are sharing online. The fact that most college admissions and employees are using the Internet to screen their potential applicants can determine your child’s future. Teen’s need to understand what goes online today, WILL be there tomorrow. It may be funny today, and not so funny two years from now.

Tags: Cyber Safety, Data Privacy Day, Internet Safety, Online Safety, Parenting, parenting advice, Parenting Blogs, Parenting Resources, Parenting Teens, Privacy Online, Privacy Professor, Rebecca Herold, Teen Help

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Cyberstalkers, Cyberbullets, Cyberlife – It is your reality today – Be sure you are protected

by Sue Scheff on Dec 11, 2011

Many know that I was a victim and survivor of a malicious cyber-attack. I called it Internet terrorism, with no disrespect to the terrorism in our world today. Same as I consider Internet defamation and being cyberstalked a form of being emotionally raped – I am not attempting to make light of women who are psychically raped. We are in a new digital world where words not only hurt – they kill. They can ruin lives – they can destroy careers and they can bankrupt a family.

I know all this first hand since it almost happened to me.

If you don’t protect it who will? Your BFF today could become your foe tomorrow. Your spouse today could be your ex next week. What will happen if they decide that e-Venge is easier than revenge? Remember the Internet never forgets!

What is cyberstalking? What is a Google bomb? What is this crazy thing calling cyber defamation?

CYBER-HAWKS THAT STALK: A new HEIGHT of cybercrimes, stalking, stolen identities, cyber-corruption and criminal predators with a keypad

Do you believe your online image, reputation and character are protected? Firewalls broken – hackers hacking – and you are now virtually invaded! Learn from my $11M defamation verdict that changed Internet Culture.

Google Bomb (n) or “link bomb”: Internet slang for a certain kind of attempt to raise the ranking of a given page in results from a Google search. (Wikipedia)

I was a regular person who found out in the most evil way what slander awaited her in cyberspace. My organization, reputation, and identity were stolen, livelihood ruined, her mental health threatened after viral defamatory statements emerged. I was hit with a Google bomb.

Like an epidemic, Google bombs are the latest lethal legal weapon to destroy character and reputations. Our First Lady was hit. No one is immune. We must be proactive in maintaining our virtual profile.

Still standing and thriving after all she endured both personally and professionally, Scheff now helps others understand the depths of the Internet and what happens when revenge turns to e-venge.

IN THE NEWS: Over 400 newspapers have featured this landmark case. Including a 4-Part LA Times Series, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, AARP, and many more. Here are snippets of my advice on how to protect your image:

Wall Street Journal “Until you go through a vengeful attack on your good name, service or business, you have no idea what a Google bomb can do to you.”
AARP- “Limit the amount of information you provide on the Internet,” she now advises others. “The Internet is not only an educational tool, it can be a lethal weapon,”
Washington Post –“if you don’t own your own name, someone else will.”
Family Circle – “Use extreme caution…Whatever you say in the kitchen goes into your kid’s ears and can come out on the computer screen – and go viral!”
LA Times – “We need very real repercussions for violating a reporter’s privacy in a motel room with a peep camera for mass voyeuristic consumption.”
LA Times – “The malicious stroke of a key has become the equivalent of a cyberbullet.”