Everything we enter online is stored somewhere on a hard drive -- and even terribly damaged drives can be restored these days. Criminologists are able to track digital impressions in e-mails, tweets and other material long since deleted.
Project ahead five or 10 years. Are you entering information and material today that you wouldn't want your life partner, children or even grandchildren to see later? Is there something you wouldn't want a prospective employer to discover with a quick Google search?
Remember, the very definition of privacy is changing. Privacy once meant that something was accessible only to those directly involved. Today, at best, it means that something is accessible to a limited number of people - and the limits are growing fuzzier every day.
4. Keep Track.
Be aware of what you've entered on social networking and file sharing sites and remove anything you feel is no longer helpful to others or serving your best interests.
In other words, do an internet audit every now and then. It sounds laborious, but even a little time spent checking your various internet presences, may save you embarrassment and possible victimisation by criminal elements.
5. Take Control.
Never post information about yourself that the user doesn't need to know -- especially when carrying out transactions, or providing responses to surveys, government questionnaires and the like.
If a merchant asks for information in a way that seems too intrusive, shop elsewhere. It's worth asking: "If I was buying this in a bricks-and-mortar store, would I have to hand over this information?" Most often, the answer is "no".
If a government department wants information you're not comfortable relaying online, send them a letter or paper form instead. (If they don't provide a pdf or doc version for download, phone and ask for one.)
6. Remember: It Won't Stop Here.
As time goes by and more of our everyday functions carry an online element, the internet is likely to become more not less intrusive
We live in the age of the data explosion. Information is both power and wealth today; data is the new currency and someone will want to control its trade.
Gradually, to stop the wrong people gaining control, governments will step in to tighten regulation of the web, not on a local or national level, but trans-nationally.
This is preferable to a wild west of the net, where cowboys and bandits are free to wreak havoc at will. But it's important to remember that by their very nature governments and their bureaucracies grow.
In the end, we will find it increasingly difficult to know exactly what legitimate authorities and corporations know about us. Given the records of governments for losing sensitive data, vigilance becomes even more essential - without paranoia.
Despite the good things communications technologies have unarguably brought us, and despite a cultural trend to trust technologies implicitly, we need to treat the web with caution.
Cyberspace has become a great servant -- but it would be a terrible master.
About Mal Fletcher:
Mal Fletcher is an author, business and media consultant, media commentator, global conference speaker and broadcaster based in London.
He has pioneered several major leadership networks and is the chairman of 2020 Plus, a London-based leadership and communications consultancy which is helping business, media and community groups to proactively engage future change, especially in difficult times.
Mal hosts the annual Strategic Leadership Consultation, which he founded in 1998, and was the founding National Director of Youth Alive Australia, a large, nationwide organisation teaching positive values to young people and running drug and alcohol-free events.
Follow Mal on Twitter www.twitter.com/malfletcher or go to www.2020Plus.org for more information. Copyright Mal Fletcher 2009
