Online Privacy for Guys

Online Privacy: Don't Make Specific Info Available

Privacy is not just something your parents need to be concerned with. If you are a good-looking guy and have a promotional page on CampusMen.com, Myspace or Facebook, you need to pay attention to privacy. You should control what is publicly available on the internet and not post very specific details about your life.

Here is a story from Sean, the owner of Campus Men...

Real Life Example of Being Found

When I first started Campus Men, I set up an office in a spare bedroom in a duplex across from the Ohio State campus.

I was either too cheap or too busy to buy blinds for the windows.

I was working on planning photo shoots at my desk one Saturday. The phone rang. It was a person with a fake voice - a high-pitched voice trying to sound like a female.

The caller was obviously a cross dresser and he/she asked me a bunch of stupid questions. I thought it was funny at first.

After about five minutes, I hung up because I needed to get work done. He/she called back and asked why I hung up. Instead of hanging up, I talked for another minute or so and hung up again.

Then he/she/it phoned back. By this time, the calls were getting annoying. I needed to get work done. As I was on the phone, I picked up a stapler and the caller asked:

"Why did you just pick up that stapler?" The caller was watching me!

I hung up, turned around and saw there was a large apartment building across the street with a direct view into my room!

The phone kept ringing but I didn't answer the phone for the rest of the day. Of course I missed an important phone call from someone I *did* want to speak with. (That often happens: freaks end up wasting your time. Freaks aren't that funny. They are annoying.)

Needless to say, I bought window blinds that night!

Specific Info Allows You To be Tracked Down

Do not publish private info on the internet. Seemingly harmless info that can be used to locate other private info about you.

For example, if you live in a very small city that has only one coffee house, don't publicly mention the city's name. If you live in Druid Hills (outside of Atlanta), say you live in Atlanta, not Druid Hills. Why would strangers need to know your exact city?

Think it through. Saying that you have 15-inch biceps in one of our video bios is harmless. Describing your abs routine is harmless. Saying that your dad owns a lumber yard in a small town in Alabama is way too specific. (There are just so many lumber yards in Alabama. It doesn't take too much effort to locate the last name of an owner of a business.)

Example: Tracking Down an Underwear Model

Jack is an underwear model who says in a newspaper article that he is the head fitness trainer at his college's fitness facility. It is easy for stalkers to phone him at work.

How a stalker could track Jack down:

There is likely only one college in Jack's city and the college fitness facility's phone number can be looked up on the college's website. If the stalker knows Jack's first name, he or she can phone the fitness facility and ask for Jack by name over and over again. Annoying.

Parents Give Out Info

Does your University make your parent's address or phone number available on their public phone directory? Parents like to help. If someone phones your parents and asks, "I am a friend of (your name) and lost his number, can you give it to me?" will your parents give out info about you?

Wanna get famous on campus? College students can get maximum exposure by becoming a college student featured on Campus Men

Other Down Low Stuff:

Expect Little Privacy When Changing Clothes At Outdoor Photo Shoots

Facebook and Myspace Privacy

Online Privacy for Good Looking Guys