Por Gamal Mustafa

Identify theft via social media has become an increasing concern. Before social media it used to take longer to really get to know a person. And it used to be that only a particular group of people in your life would know a lot about a particular area in your life; say your coworkers would know about where you work or have worked in the past; your friends would know about your hobbies; and your family would know about those special dates in your life. This is no longer the case, with enough access to your Linked‐In, Google+ and Facebook account; a particular person could get to know enough information about you to pretend to be you, online or over the phone. And your risk increase significantly if you accept friend requests from strangers and allow friends of friends to view your information.

Curiously enough, researches have shown that people who share their personal information with anyone, by keeping their profile public, are also more likely to divulge the most personal information, like complete dates of birth, which could be used to trick a web site or a person over the phone in order to release a password or approve an application. This due to a lack of consumer knowledge regarding protecting their identity online; a growing comfort and trust in social media providers; the need for social media providers to generate revenue; and a lack of standards or policing of these standards.

People also tend to adopt new technology, before adopting the corresponding safe habits. So, consumers need to be educated on the proper use of social media as it relates to protecting their privacy and security. Social media providers need to understand also the impact of not addressing security and privacy issues. There is an opportunity for social media providers and institutions, such as Banks, to partner in the definition of what set of information are not safe to be divulged publicly. Perhaps create even an early warning system that would alert a person when they are unwisely divulging high risk personal data to the public.

On the meantime, please know that the following profile elements can be used to steal or misappropriate your identity:

  • Full name (particularly your middle name)
  • Date of birth (often required)
  • Home town
  • Relationship status
  • School locations and graduation dates
  • Pet names
  • Other affiliations, interests and hobbies
  • Primary e‐mail address.

* El autor es senior software architect, online strategy & information technology de Doral Bank