Online activity could prove a danger for young consumers

It has been claimed by Google boss Eric Schmidt that young people may one day have to change their names in order to avoid the dangers stemming from their online activities.

These days many young people spend a lot of their spare time online, and with so many households now having access to broadband services there are fewer restrictions with regards to how often and for how long young people go online. This means that younger users can do far more online these days, and amongst the hugely popular activities many engage in is social networking sites and social media.

When it comes to social networking sites many younger consumers do not think twice about putting a range of personal information on the sites, and in many cases do not use any privacy settings, thus leaving this information open for all the world to see. However, this is something that many industry officials have warned about as much of this information is sensitive.

Speaking in a recent interview Schmidt said that many younger people failed to realise the potential dangers and future consequences of putting so much personal information online. He even went as far as to say that some users placed so much personal and sensitive information online about themselves and their lives that they could find that they have to change their names in the future to protect themselves.

He added: “I don’t believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time… I mean we really have to think about these things as a society.”

Source – bbc