Online privacy tips not just for kids
July 24,2009
By Herb Weisbaum
Source: KOMONEWS.COM
Internet safety is not just for kids who go online. A growing number of seniors are also plugging in to the web. Many use it for social networking, and dating.
“The fastest growing demographic group on Facebook are women over the age of 55,” says Debra Berlyn, who runs the Consumer Privacy Awareness Project.
She says the same sort of protections that we always talk about with kids and computers also apply to older adults who go online.
“Our parents today are helping their kids with online safety but they also have to help their parents with online safety. They’re sort of the digital sandwich generation so they’re helping their kids and they can also help their parents. If you’re older and you’re online for the first time, ask your son or daughter to help you figure some of this stuff out.”
Berlyn says if you go on the net, no matter what your age — be skeptical of everything and always think twice before you click.
Because on the Internet, if you give out personal information: account numbers, passwords, or Social Security number, there’s no taking it back. Once you hit send, it’s gone.
