How social is your data?

Tiscali research shows that UK internet users are leaving themselves wide open to online ID theft and fraud by giving away huge amounts of highly personal data on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. With an individual identity worth up to £14,500 to internet criminals, there is good reason to be employ sensible precautions when social networking.

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Tiscali research has found that UK Internet users' attitudes towards online privacy are inconsistent at best and dangerous at worst.

2505 tiscali.co.uk audience members participated in the Tiscali research, conducted during June 2009. The research revealed that Facebook is by far the most popular site with 70% having a Facebook profile, followed by 43% using Friends Reunited. Over half of those polled (54%) admit to logging in daily or several times a day.

• 68% of those surveyed are publishing photos online
• 49% include their date of birth on social networks
• 40% give their email addresses on social networks
• 20% post their job details on social networks
• 30% make their social networking profile public
• 13% don’t know the difference between a public and private profile
• 5% of those surveyed publish their home address
• 21% post information about holidays

Many of those who share information through social networking are alarmed at the amount of information available about them without their knowledge or consent.

• 97% said they were not happy to have their home, housemates, mother’s maiden name and other details available for anyone to access
• 78% said they are not happy to have a picture of the front and access to their home available for anyone to see
• 94% believed that publishing this sort of information was an invasion of their privacy
• 96% believe it puts them at risk of identity theft
• 62% believe that aerial and streetview pictures of their home present a security risk

Social media however is a fantastic development however. 57% of respondents have a limited or private profile. 27% have ten or fewer friends while 55% have fewer than 50.

The research revealed that Facebook is by far the most popular with 70% having a Facebook profile, followed by 43% using Friends Reunited. Over half of those polled (54%) admit to logging in daily or several times a day.

The most popular activity was posting messages on friends pages (60%), followed by sharing photos and videos (46%).

50% people are taking a sneaky peak to see what friends and family are up to instead of calling them and 32% are doing the same to check on colleagues and business contacts it seems!

Social Media Explained

You are at risk

UK attitudes to online safety are patchy, leaving UK internet users open to scammers who empty compromised accounts of funds on a whim.

• It is estimated that an average UK worker earns £23,764 a year;
• The average UK adult owns 2+ credit cards;
• The average UK worker has the equivalent of a months salary in reserve;
• If you fall into any, or all, of the categories above this makes you worth £14,500 to internet criminals.