Facebook clues can reveal your secrets

"Researchers from Cambridge University have discovered that simply by analysing Facebook 'likes' it is possible to make highly accurate predictions about people - from the colour of their skin to their gender, orientation, political allegiance, and much more. Combine those inferences with what people explicitly tell you about themselves, and you could know more about someone than their own relatives!



Other research has found that by collecting relatively innocuous information from a variety of online sources you can build up a far more detailed picture of somebody than they ever intended - be very wary of choosing the same user name at different sites.



Have you tried searching for your own name using Google? Or for your email address (put it in double quotes)? Or for your user names? You might be surprised at what you find!"

Thanks to Peter Calver for the above article. Peter runs the LostCousins website. Have a look at http://www.lostcousins.com/. You can sign up for his free newsletter from this site.


I tried the double quotation searches and discovered a potential problem with one of my user names!! Yikes!! I have been guilty of re-using names and even passwords. I know we're not supposed to, BUT there are just tooooooooooo many needed to create new ones each time you sign into a new website... and then try to remember which goes where! Anyway, for your own protection, give those searches a try guys. Forewarned is forearmed?


Pat (at least today sunlight is streaming through my windows ... improving ones mood, however slightly)