Question of the Week 10/12

How do you decide what personal information to disclose on the Web?
The personal information I put on the Web is usually information that I would give out to anyone and not care who sees. If there is any question about who might see it and whether or not I'd want them to, I dont' put it on the Web.

What are some of the potential problems with posting information about yourself online?
Anyone can see the information you post about yourself online, so if you are too descriptive in your information it can lead to problems of people anywhere in the world being able to find you and harass you.
People can find out more about you than you wanted them to know. Depending on how personal you get, it can be embarrassing or detrimental to your future.

Do you think that employers should be allowed to make decisions about hiring or firing based on information that they can find in Web searches?
I think that if an employer is looking for a canidate that is responsible and professional and they do a web search that shows a person lacks those qualities, then yes, they can make a decision about hiring that person. Or, if after a person is hired they find out from a Web search that an employee is dishonest specifically regarding her position, then they can be fired. People should think about what can be traced back to them by an employer or future employer before putting it online.

What do you do if someone close to you finds out information you didn’t want them to know through a Web search?
It would depend on what that information was. If it was just something that was embarrassing and not that serious, and you didn't want that one specific person to know, you can just laugh it off or just tell the person that it isn't that big of a deal and didn't think it would be found.
If it is something more serious, you would need to talk to that person who found out, and explain yourself.