Seems like nobody lives without a social media account these days. With social media, there are tons of things we can do: watching cute cats videos, building connections, or even pursuing a dream job. Various, interesting features that have been created have successfully invited millions of people to jump on the bandwagon, for example, Instagram’s latest Add Yours feature. Come in the form of a sticker, Add Yours allows users to ask questions or initiate challenges which other users can respond to. One question can get a chain response from many users and your response can be seen by other users. Just like other features, Add Yours is one of the ways to build interaction between Instagram users. Institutions and individuals who want to increase their number of followers or build brand awareness can take advantage of this feature.

Add Yours Stickers on Instagram. Source: @Instagram

At first glance, everything looks harmless. After all, what harm could entail from responding to a question? Well, let’s take a good look. For general questions like favorite music, it’s still relatively safe to share with a lot of people. However, things start to get weird when questions like “Your nickname variations” or “Your mother's full name” appear through this feature, made by random people. Now, let’s rewind to that time when you were about to open a bank account, it’s these kinds of information that are usually used for private matters, right? This information is your personal data, which shouldn’t be shared freely on social media. Cybercriminals who are possibly lurking behind the question might steal and misuse your data. So, what are the dos and don'ts to keep our personal data safe when using social media?

What is Personal Data?

When on social media, we need to be aware to draw a line between what information is appropriate to share and what’s not. Personal data such as full name, place and date of birth, address, shouldn’t be disclosed to the public. According to SAFEnet, personal data or PII (Personally Identifiable Information) is information that can be used to identify, track, or refer to a specific individual. Then, what includes personal data? Personal data may include an individual’s name, signature, address, phone number or date of birth, internet protocol (IP) addresses, voice signature and facial recognition biometrics. In addition, legal documents such as ID card, Family Card, Driver’s License, boarding pass are also ‘off  limits’ and not to be shared publicly as it contains your personal data.

What Do Cybercriminals Do With Personal Data?

The rapid development of technology is also followed by the rapid growth of cybercrime. Personal data that is spread carelessly can be used by cybercriminals for profiling, the construction process or building a person’s identity based on information available on social media. Cybercriminals can manipulate that data for illegal online loan registration,  impersonation attack, and bank account fraud.

Selectively Sharing Information on Social Media

Being on social media can bring so much fun as long as we’re selective and careful with the stuff we share. Realize that whatever we share on social media can get into anyone’s hands, so think twice and make sure that our post doesn’t contain sensitive information. In the real world, we don’t go around telling other people our full name or date of birth, for no apparent reason. It does sound weird, right? This should also be applied while we’re social media, we shouldn’t share our personal data with those we barely know. Remember, your personal data is valuable, so be mindful of it!