Cyber Crimes & Safety

Safety On-Line

Adapted from Washington State Attorney General’s Office www.atg.wa.gov/InternetSafety/Teens.aspx

The Internet is a wonderful medium for communicating and sharing with others and a critical element in our national infrastructure. Using e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, discussion boards, and chat rooms you can connect with people from around the world. However, as you share and interact online it is important that you do so safely.

Every detail you share online about your life and the extended group of people you interact with is stored somewhere. Understanding the way this information accumulates is critical.

Before you share any information online consider how sensitive the information may be if it is abused, and who you want to share the information with. If the information is general in nature or restricted to a site that is not available to the general public, there should be little risk in sharing it. However, if the information identifies you, your possessions, or someone else in some way you may want to limit access to that information or not post it at all.