🍎 Celebrate the School Year - But Keep the Details Safe!
We love to celebrate our children and grandchildren, especially when they reach milestones like their first day of school.
Remember that scammers and creepers could be watching.
When we post details like full names or even nicknames, school names, mascots, grade level, photos with geotags or addresses, custom backpacks, lunchboxes or school uniforms, we could be handing strangers more information than we realize.
Even small details can be pieced together from multiple posts or sources to guess your passwords, make you or your family a target for social scams, or impersonate a family member online.
🚧 The New Rule of Thumb
Before you post anything, re-read it and ask yourself,
“Would I hand this information to a stranger at the grocery store?”
If the answer is No, it probably doesn’t belong online - especially on public profiles or community groups.
Share privately: using group texts, family-only photo albums or closed messaging apps where you know the recipients.
Crop or Blur Identifying Information: Look at the photos before posting and blur or crop out names, nametags, school logos, uniforms or identifying info.
Use an online nickname: Don’t use the real nickname that you use for your children or grandchildren. That way, if a scammer ever meets your child in person, they’ll be calling them an unfamiliar name or nickname.
Check your Privacy Settings: In Facebook, click your profile picture, then Settings & Privacy > Privacy Checkup. Look to see who can see what you share, how people can find you, your data settings, ad settings and follow the recommendations for keeping your account secure. Make sure “who can see future posts” is set to Friends, not Public!
Teach your children: Talk with them about what’s OK to share online and what to do if a stranger approaches them saying they know you.
Next Week : How to Help Kids Deal with Online Bullying
It’s not just adults who get targeted online.
Next week, we’ll focus on how to help kids, pre-teens and teens recognize, respond to and recover from cyberbullying.
We will also cover how to set up protective boundaries without making them feel punished.
🦄 Who is Suecurity?
Susan Richards aka Sue-curity
🌉 Background: Over 30 years in information technology with a passion for keeping people and data secure.
👑 Achievement: Hosts a weekly HITRUST Secrets discussion and nerds out about security topics.
☕ Quirk: An American patriot through and through, she still enjoys Irish breakfast tea in the mornings!
🎆 Did You Know? The foundation for public education here in America started well before our nation was founded. The Massachusetts Law of 1647, also known as the Old Deluder Satan Act, required towns of 50 families or more to hire a schoolmaster and teach basic literacy. The intention was to ensure that people could read their scriptures, and thus, be protected from the influence of “Old Deluder Satan”.
Towns with 100 or more families were required to establish grammar schools, to prepare students for higher education. Town authorities managed the day to day operations of their schools.
The Good News
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Matthew 7:15.
Be safe,
Sense of Security
Know someone who posts a little too much information about their kids or grandkids? Forward them this newsletter as a gentle nudge!
