Nearly 5 billion people around the globe are on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and/or Tik Tok with Facebook topping these social media platforms at 2.5 billion users. For perspective, there are almost 8 billion people in the world. Chances are, you use one or more of these popular platforms. Having so much of people’s daily activities and interactions with friends being posted online brings up a few questions about the security and privacy of that information. What are the threats to your privacy, security, or more importantly, your safety, resulting from information you share on social media?
Tools and websites have been developed to aggregate social media information and also allow anyone to view and search the data. Some of these platforms make it easy for anyone to view what is posted online directly on the platform. Privacy controls can help but the settings can be confusing and are typically not “private” by default. Social media platforms benefit from interactions so they’re motivated to make their platforms open and accessible. However, this approach is not really in the interest of the consumer.
This presentation will focus on the privacy and security issues related to a few of the most popular social media platforms. We will go through examples of personal information from these platforms that is readily available on the Internet. Information that may be surprising to the general consumer. The presentation will also go over the threats associated with having this information available to anyone. In addition, tips on privacy and security for consumers to consider for their social media accounts.
A real-time polling application will be used throughout the presentation to receive and pose questions related to the topics. Audience members are able to use their mobile devices (phones, laptops, and tablets) to respond to the poll questions and see the results in real time. Additionally, attendees will be encouraged to engage in dialogue during the session.