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Don’t damage your future online

Millions of young people could damage their future careers with the details about themselves they post on social networking websites, says new research. The survey found more than half of those asked made most of their information public. Some 71% of 2,000 14 to 21-year-olds said they would not want colleges or employers to do a web search on them before they had removed some material. The survey said the young needed to be aware of their electronic footprint and that young people could be putting themselves at risk of identity fraud because of the material they post on social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. The data regulator’s survey found that two thirds of those questioned accepted as friends on such websites people they did not even know.

Some 60% posted their date of birth, a quarter put their job title and almost one in 10 gave their home address. A spokesperson from the survey said: “Many young people are posting content online without thinking about the electronic footprint they leave behind. “The cost to a person’s future can be very high if something undesirable is found by the increasing number of education institutions and employers using the internet as a tool to vet potential students or employees.

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