Did you read that article yesterday from the guy who was portrayed by Leo Dicaprio as a teenage con artist? It starred Tom Hanks, also. He’s worked for 4 decades with law enforcement and said FB is a major player fr getting people’s identity. Your name, birthday, university you graduated, going on a trip, back from a trip…just a great wealth of info out there. I image especially so for those of us who put our maiden names on our profiles. It makes me want to take it down, but I really rely on it now for social gatherings, notifications…people use that more than emailing anymore. Anyway, I might go and take down birthday and schools. Very worrisome.
My husband and I do not have Facebook because we have always worried about the potential for identity theft from it. We manage to get along fine without it.
All my information is set for friends only and I’m pretty picky about who I friend. My friends already know my birthday and where I went to school. I’m not going to get rid of the good things about FB like getting to see nieces and nephews grow up because of a fear that could happen in so many other ways.
^Same. I have found old friends, kept in better touch with relatives, and met some wonderful people I wouldn’t know otherwise. I see links to news I wouldn’t come across, too. It’s easy to be mindful about privacy, which I am, without being fearful.
I don’t think you have to set as friends. Don’t hackers know how to get around that stuff? He also said he foesnt own debit card…only credit.
The only info on Facebook is the info that you choose to put on it. So make your own bed. Maiden name or not. Privacy or not.
You shop online, play online, do work online. Don’t you think a really good hacker can “get you” one way or another if they really want to?
Facebook. Linked In. Twitter. Zappos. CC. - all online, all make us vulnerable to a certain degree.
Really, most of the stuff on facebook is public information anyway. I don’t think the stuff you put on facebook makes you any more vulnerable than having your name in the phone book/ online phone directories.
You’re much more likely to be the victim of identity theft by shopping online, swiping your card at the gas station, etc.
Facebook does make you more vulnerable. Even if all the information is publicly available it is much easier to access from facebook all in one place. You have to manage your privacy settings.
I’ve had neighbors who have had mail stolen (from their personal mailbox in one case and from the outgoing mail drop at the post office). If your Social Security number is on the mail, you are a target for ID thieves. If it is a check, it can be washed and your money stolen from your checking account. With the big drop box at the PO, thieves were putting sticky tape inside the box to catch the mail and then fishing it out in the middle of the night.
I’ve never heard of any of that happening through Facebook.
There is being cautious and there’s being paranoid…just have to find the right balance. As others pointed out, we do so much online and yes it makes us vulnerable but can you imagine trying to get along today completely offline?
TatinG makes a good point about snail mail too. It has it’s potential problems too.
Oh and regarding the maiden name on FB… I have heard that you shouldn’t use “Mother’s Maiden Name” anymore for security (such as on a bank account) because too many mom’s are putting it out there on FB. (Not to mention, I suppose a lot of Mom’s don’t change their name anymore).
BTW, as stated much of the information is not that hard to find. It was scary when I googled myself. I searched for Jenny Doe at CurrentTown (used nickname and married last name) and found Jennifer Smith at Hometown (full first name married name and town I lived in as a child). I even found my parents and siblings listed as “others who have lived in the same home”. (Obviously for this example I made up the name for privacy)
Also, to people from some cultural traditions, mother’s maiden name is blatantly obvious, so it is even less suitable as a “password” than it already is otherwise. See http://perez.cs.vt.edu/twolastnames .
I have heard him speak several times and I do speaking myself on data breach and privacy. The ship has totally sailed. There are precautions you can take, but it’s pretty much too late for most of us.
My kids missed my birthday this year because I took it off Facebook. 
You might need to remind yours if you take this step.
What disturbed me was having to provide all sorts of financial info to secure a rental apartment for each daughter - copies of old tax returns, bank account numbers, everything, just everything. One landlord is Russian. So far it’s been months and no problems but it’s a real leap of faith to put this stuff out there!
^ So far we have not been asked to do this (likely due to the luck.) But in a couple of years, after we retire, we may have to do this. (Cross my finger that DS will not need to move to another apartment in the next couple of years.)
How does a retiree who has a limited fixed income (and relies on the asset to make a living) help his/her S/D secure a rental apartment when the annual income of their loved one is not higher than 40 (I think this is the magic number) times of the monthly rent?
Russian. (Is he/she friendly or occasionally smile at you or is he/she “all business” in your business dealing with him/her? It takes some “multiple culture” skills to “break the ice” in my experience. One Russia-background person here tends to not want to interact with me at least, but is very nice to whoever he/she “likes” though. Not a bad person but just a different style in his way of interacting with others in my experience.
By the time one is a retiree, their S/D is independent and old enough to secure their own rental apartment.
I have FB locked down pretty tightly, including not being searchable on search engines (that’s a security setting) and being super picky about who I allow in (always less than Duncan’s Number, which is 150. I’m hovering around 125 right now, and purge people all the time that I’m not in contact with anymore).
You can also check which apps are allowed access to your FB page, and purge those regularly, as well. Right now I think I have dropbox and fitbit, and that’s it. It takes some care and time, but it’s worth it. I also use FB Purity, which screens out a lot of the ads. It’s a Chrome add-on, you can get it in the Google Play store.
I used to work at a doctor’s office, and the dregs he’d hire to run his front office are the ones you have to worry about stealing your info. ALL of it, easily copied, easily put on thumb drives. The accessibility there is appalling.
I don’t put my birthday or maiden name on FB. Anything that’s on Facebook I don’t use as a security question or password on any website. If I have to use something like mother’s maiden name as a password or security question I make one up. Same thing for favorite movie or whatever. If you can easily find it on Facebook I don’t use it- just make one up.
Or maybe use your grandmother’s maiden, or your MIL’s. (If I made one up, I’d forget it.)
@mcat2 - we didn’t actually meet him. We had to send paperwork via email or fax and sign electronically since it was all 1000+ miles away. The landlord owns several properties so that is a bit reassuring. Future SIL did some research too where he looks for legal judgements, bankruptcies, etc. and the landlord cleared that hurdle.