User's Guide to Privacy Issues

Introduction

The online world is a community. Like any other community the more actively you participate in the day to day goings on of that community and the ways in which you participate will effect how well known you are within that community. Your decisions will dictate how private or how public your online life will be, so it is your responsibility to make informed choices.

This guide is a starting point, only. It highlights some of the more pressing privacy issues and some of the technologies that you can use to protect your privacy.

Privacy Guide

Become Aware of Privacy Policies

Many companies have privacy policies that govern how they treat the information that they collect about you, including information collected over the Internet. So, before you make a decision about whether or not to supply personal information to a company, look for a privacy policy posted on their web site. You might learn, for example, whether the company that you are dealing with puts you on their mailing lists or sells their customer list to other organizations that may lead to unsolicited commercial email ("UCE"). As well, privacy policies should tell you how your personal information is stored and transmitted. Is your profile stored in a publicly available database? Is your order being transmitted openly or via a secure line?

Don't Let Your Browser Make Choices for You

The web sites that you visit can request personal information about you from your browser. These small packets of information are called "cookies". In many instances, supplying the information is to your advantage, making navigation easier. Still, the information can be used for other purposes, so you should decide whether or not to supply it, rather than letting your browser decide.

Most browsers can be configured to:

- prompt you before allowing a cookie;
- not store personal information;
- to notify you if it has been asked to submit information to a third party;
- to notify you when a switch is taking place between secure and insecure modes; and
- to check for web site certifications, including whether a certification has been revoked.

Additionally, if you do not want to supply any information to third parties, you can configure your browser to reject all cookies.

Net Proofing

As a child, your interactions with the community were closely monitored by a parent or guardian until you had learned some basic safety rules like don't open the door
to a stranger, never tell someone over the phone that you parents aren't home and never talk to strangers. As you grew, the rules became guidelines. Talking to a stranger who happened to be a police officer or a new student in your class at school was okay. You developed these decision-making skills, and they continue to develop as you gain more experience. They are important as they allow you to create the amount of safety that you need to be comfortable within your physical community.

These same skills will help you when you are online. It is probably not a good idea to tell someone that you just met in a chat room that you live by yourself, at 1234 Glen Road, Apartment 3240. Nor is it a good idea to post your phone number in a newsgroup devoted to sex.

Safeguard Your Passwords

Online, we cannot rely on the senses that we normally use to distinguish one person from another. When you are reading a posting in a newsgroup, you assume that the person whose name, pseudonym or email address appears in association with that post is the person who wrote it. Someone with some computer skills can impersonate or spoof you. If that person knows your password, then they do not even need computer skills to become you online. As you, they can do many things that may comprise your privacy. For example, they can post to newsgroups soliciting email. This might not be too bad if they ask for chocolate chip cookie recipes at alt.cooking, but they could just as easily solicit images of child pornography.

• Never give your password out, not even to someone claiming to be from your service provider.
• Don't set your computer up so that you logon by the click of a single button.
• Use passwords that are at least six characters long and includes both letters and numbers. E.g. Canada130
• Try not to not use words or numbers that are associated with you as passwords. E.g. the names of relatives or pets or a birthday
• Do not leave your password on post it note stuck to your computer.
• If you suspect someone else is using your account, notify your service provider and change your password.
• Change your password regularly.
• Safeguarding your password is also important so that you don't end up being charged for hours that you did not use.

Shopping

Shopping raises some special concerns both online and offline. In the physical world, each day, you decide whether or not to give your credit card information to a particular merchant. You make that decision based on what you know about that merchant: reputation, history, physical characteristics of the shop and the merchant's return policy among other things. You make a similar decision when you order from a catalog or hand a waiter your credit card in a restaurant. When you shop online, you need to exercise the same care.

Still, there are some additional things that you can do to minimize the risk involved. Talk to your friends, find out if anyone has ordered from a particular web site. Were they happy with the results? Use a separate credit card with a low spending limit. Only shop from web sites where your information is sent over a secure connection. Look for pertinent certifications on the merchant's web site.

Anonymity

If you require anonymity, then being careful about your choices is not enough. You need to become aware of additional technologies such as the different types of anonymous remailers, methods for retrieving information from web sites anonymously and ways to telnet or ftp anonymously to name a few.

Children

The online world offers boundless potential for entertainment and education for children and teenagers, but, as in any other environment, they can also be targets for crime and exploitation. As parents you can do a lot to ensure that their online experiences are healthy and productive.

Stay in Touch

The best way for you to ensure that children have positive experiences online is to stay in touch with what they are doing. Spending time with them and inviting them to share their experiences can be very helpful. In many cases they can teach you about the services that are available.

Inform Your Children

Children should be told not only about the good things available online but also about the risks that exist. In particular, they should understand the need to be very careful about providing information to online "strangers" and about the inappropriate content that exists.

Family Rules

One way for you to help your children and teenagers is to develop a set of "Family Rules". These could cover the selection of appropriate online services, the parental approval required before providing information online, the risk of arranging face-to-face meetings and the handling of threatening or otherwise inappropriate messages.

Other Resources

There is a growing range of resources available to help parents work effectively with their children. The Media Awareness Network is one Canadian organization active in this area. Its web site is at www.media-awareness.ca. In addition, a number of companies offer software programs that help parents control the material their children see while surfing the web.

In Summary

Handling a Problem If the matter is one that involves potentially criminal acts, go to the police. This is especially important if your personal safety or that of a child is involved. If you have problems when dealing with a company online, enlist the help of a consumer protection agency such as the Better Business Bureau.

If you can, identify the ISPs providing service to the person or company with whom you are having difficulty and notify them of the problem. Most ISPs have net abuse policies that allow for termination of a user's account if that user's conduct warrants it. Additionally, most ISPs will preserve information and records related to a complaint even though most will not release information without a search warrant or a court order.

Talk to your ISP. They may be able to help you identify the other ISP. They can help you by doing things like changing your user id.

Taking responsibility

The online world, already rich in resources, is expanding very fast. Peoples' ability to learn, to visit with friends, to get information, to shop and to be entertained is growing at an almost unbelievable rate. To balance these benefits with the important need to respect the privacy of personal information will require a cooperative effort by users and providers alike. Together we can do it.