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MySpace Identity Theft ?So far, despite my research, MySpace identity theft does not seem to have happened. It is early 2007 as I write this, so that will no doubt soon change. A few months ago in late 2006, it was announced that MySpace had passed 125 million personal profiles! That is astonishing growth. Only a few weeks previous, there had been media speculation that the internet had just passed 100 milion active websites. For one site to have grown so quickly is phenomenal. To put it in context, MySpace has the equivalent of a personal page for one in four EU citizens - from 27 countries! But, as you may know, many people place some very personal information on their pages. We have read that some American companies that recruit professionals outsource online searches. This means that they have a company that they hire specifically to do online background checks for potential employees. On the cv, it may say that they are a Grade 'A' student, with morals and a high work ethic. But, if the MySpace page discusses their tastes in drugs, porn or whatever, you can imagine the damage it may do. As with any site of this nature, there have also been reports of people, mainly female, who have become the victims of stalkers. These people had put a little too much information on their page and this attracted unwanted attention. We are constantly amazed at the amount of information some people put online voluntarily. Not only is it accurate, but it is there for the world to see, potentially forever. It is worth bearing in mind that many websites are 'cached' each day. This is a technical way of saying that the contents are stored on a permanent basis. There are sites available (the WayBackMachine comes to mind) that enable web users to look at sites and pages that no longer exist or have been changed. This means, potentially, that your embarrasing tales online are saved for years to come. Be careful what you add to your pages! The last thing that we want to hear is of peope suffering MySpace identity theft because they offered the world a little too much information. Go back to
online identity theft
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