blogging is dangerous, is it??

the other night i chatted to a friend who knows a lot more in IT than me.. that's for sure, almost 75% of people i met will know more than me!! for you who knows me quite well, i'm sure you'll agree... haha...

anyway, suddenly we got to talk about my new hobby... blogging... the conversation went something like this:

IT: be careful with blogging

me: huh?! what about it...?

IT: i don't really agree with blogs, because it reveals a lot about the author, which can be really dangerous... if you blog about events, social topics, technical, etc it's okay... but never blog about your life... because somebody can search for it and find out a little too much about you...

me: hhmmm... but i don't post my private stuff... *not getting where he's leading to*

IT: yes... but most websites/blogs get indexed by search engines... and then everyone who searches it can access your blog, although you don't tell the address to anyone... *IT send me a page that contain my account from a site which i never told him about*

me: then... how do you know the limit? how much can you post?

IT: *send another page about my profile from blogger and friendster* you see... i can even find you... know some of your details, i can then use those info to call the bank as if i'm calling on your behalf... or call post office, saying that I'm your ex-roommate... then i extract where you live now from them... then use it to cross-check with phone company... and i have more info... once i have enough info, i'll either hack into your PC with the known details, or use it for online banking...

me: you made it sound so scary!!

IT: hmm.. NOW you're thinking.. :) see sometimes you have to think further... now think about your friends whose names are in your blogs... now they are exposed to the web... anyone could call as if they know them, and then use the published details for fraud... that's why i said blogs are dangerous... they are good if you're talking about technical/hobby topics, such as photography techniques, technical experience, etc.... but they can be VERY dangerous if used by the wrong person... if the blog space include personal details... such as birth date of kids... where they live etc.... coz some kidnappers can use those details to talk to the school the kids are enrolled in, and tell the teacher that they are the kids' uncle or whatever, and tell them that the kid was born on this date, live here and there, and that he likes this and that...

IT: i think personal privacy is very important, once they are out, there is no way you can retrieve them... the less the public know about you, the better...

me: hhmm never thought about it to that extent *shocked*... so what's the prevention for blogging?

IT: well, as I said, don't write about people, including yourself and the people you know... just do blogs on common topics, like health, technology, hobbies, etc.... NEVER about people... NEVER mention anything personal...

me: hhmm ok...

IT: once something is out on the web, you're screwed!!

me: even when you delete them? they can still be found?

IT: still can... once a website is indexed, although the website can be inactive, the cache may still exist...

me: hhmm... *don't know what else to say, too shocked*

IT: networks use caches to speed up page loading, rather than having to reload from the original web server... do a search on your name, and you can find stuff that you think others don't even know...

me: really?? *confused... and still shocked* so what should we do with the ones out there?

IT: just try to change the contents of what you already have... that's the first step... if you're lucky after a few years, search engines drop your blogs from their index... even my really old website is still online.. although it's already expired...

me: i see... have you really found extreme case like you told me just now?

IT: hmm, I think that's quite common in the US... since their internet awareness is high... in Australia there are lots on kids..

me: oh, about kidnapping?

IT: you see, that's why there are cases of paedophiles and sex crimes

me: iiiihhhh serem banget sih...

IT: iyeeeee.. makanya hati-2..

so... what do you think? ada tanggapan??

aku saking paniknya, langsung cari info sana sini lagi buat meng-clarify... wah pusing gak sih kalo emang bener begitu?... mungkin itu sih extreme cases ya... bisa coba baca article ini juga... bukan mau nakut-nakutin... sekadar info... tapi... ya ada baiknya buat berhati-hati ya... extra hati-hati malah...

safe blogging ya...