It is easy to be lulled into a false sense of privacy and security while on the internet; it's quite normal for some people to forget that public postings which you make can be seen potentially by millions of people and that statements that you make can be copied and spread far beyond the place and time where you made them.

This week I'd like to present a list of commonsense privacy and safety measures that everyone should bear in mind during their daily interaction here on deviantART or elsewhere.

PREVENTION AND SAFETY TIPS

Privacy tips

Remember that your deviantART account is always publicly viewable so everything that you say or do on site can be easily be read by anyone regardless of whether or not they have a deviantART account themselves.

•• Don't post anything that could embarrass you later or expose you to danger. It is easy to mistakenly believe that only your friends will view your account, deviations and activity but the fact is that many complete strangers have access to what you post, including potential employers, colleges, your teachers and peers at school that you might not even know. You shouldn't post photos or information you wouldn't want people to know about you and never say anything which you don't want to have held against you later.

•• Think before you post. What's uploaded to the net can be downloaded by anyone and passed around or posted online pretty much forever. You shouldn't post photos of yourself or your friends or family that you wouldn't want to be spread around without your knowledge, possibly with malicious intent.

•• Protect your privacy. Since anyone can view your account page be careful about what sort of contact details that you provide. A publicly posted email address can easily be read by someone collecting addresses for a spam list, or looking for people to pitch a scam to, and even by people who would use it to send you insults, abuse, or worse.

•• Don’t give out personal information. Never reveal any personal information about yourself. Never reveal personal information such as your last name, telephone number, place of business, school or anything else that someone could use to actually figure out where you live. Never forget that even a reasonable good search engine could pluck out even the most obscure and unnoticed comment that you figured would go completely unnoticed by anyone but your friends.

•• People aren't always who they say they are. Be careful about adding strangers to your friends list. It's fun to connect with new friends and artists from all over the world, but avoid sharing your personal information or meeting people in person whom you do not fully know. Remember that you don't really know who is on the other end of an Internet connection.

Protect your account

•• Logout is your best friend. Always log out of your account, otherwise anyone who sits down at the computer when you are done has automatic access to your account.

•• Don't let your computer remember your password for you. It's a boon for a forgetful person but if your browser fills in your password automatically it's just as bad as never logging out.

•• Use a strong password. It is very important to have strong password which is not easily guessed not only for your deviantART account but for your email account and just about everything else. While using the name of your favorite food, your pet, your favorite cartoon character or some other easy to remember phrase might make it easy for you it also makes it easy for somebody to guess their way into your account. A good strong password consists of a mix of letters and numbers and isn't just a word from the dictionary.

•• Never reuse your password for more than one thing. While it seems convenient it means that any breach of security which releases your password gives the intruder access to everything. Make certain to prevent this sort of wholesale invasion by using separate passwords for everything; it’s more to remember but it is safer in the long run.

•• Don’t share your deviantART account or the email which is registered to it. Even if you trust a person completely, your password should remain a secret. The more people you entrust with a secret the greater the chance that it will be revealed. Many times a shared password will be used in as a weapon in a failed relationship or a breakup of a friendship so this is yet another good reason to keep your password to yourself.

•• Don't get hooked by a phoney email phishing scam. " Phishing " is a method used by scam artists to try to get your personal information, such as your username and password, by pretending to be a site you trust; there have been several past incidents of scam artists pretending to be deviantART staff creating plausible but fake email addresses in order to get your password; deviantART staff members will never need to ask you for your password. Always contact our onsite helpdesk to check out any email which claims to come from our staff before you answer it. If you think you, or a friend, are victims of phishing, change your password immediately.

•• Don't get trapped by faked websites. Another method of tricking you into revealing your password and account name is for phishers to set up a ‘fake’ website and then provide a link for you to click on. When you click it you are transported to the fake website to find yourself logged out. When you type in your account name and password you’ve played right into the trap. If you ever click a link which inexplicably logs you out always check the URL and make certain that it looks correct and if there is any doubt at all type out the deviantART URL yourself before you try to log into what might be a fake site; a five second check could stop you from trying to log into ddeviantARTT instead of the real thing.