Dubai: The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) in the UAE has warned residents to not share their personal information on social media.
In a video posted on Thursday on Twitter, the authority warned residents against putting their address or sharing their date of birth on social media. The regulatory authority warned that companies, such as banks, use these details as answers to security questions.
Why?
TMI or Too Much Information on social media can be plain old embarrassing or a prelude to cyber-crime. The information available online is usually more than sufficient to prepare an authentic application for credit products and services.
You should not post pictures of your driver's license or ID cards online - if you absolutely need to, blur out the document number and key details before you do so. While you may ask "Who would?!" there are too many 18 to 30-year-olds online celebrating getting their driver's licences with an actual picture of their licence card.
You should not give out your address on social media, or say that no one will be home that weekend. Ensure that location settings on your phone are not on for your social media apps - unless you want to use it. Any information posted online stays online, so be sure to adjust your privacy settings to disable anyone who's not your friend from seeing that data. A tip here would be to do all your travel posting later - so you're not giving away exact location details in real time.
In the UAE
Cyber C3 is an “Acceptable Usage Policy” universal certification program, used by the UAE government, aimed at educating residents and citizens about acceptable and law-abiding online practice. It focuses on learning how to stay safe online. You can report cyber crimes and also get private advice on how to deal with such crimes on their website.
- With inputs from Anjana Kumar, Web Reporter
