Andy Smith, an Internet security chief at the Cabinet Office, advised Internet users to give false details in many cases while using the Internet. For example, he suggested that you lie about your date of birth, and other information, while using social network websites, and give false information to websites that you can't fully trust.
"When you put information on the internet do not use your real name, your real date of birth," he told a Parliament and the Internet Conference in Portcullis House, Westminster. "When you are putting information on social networking sites don't put real combinations of information, because it can be used against you."
Obvious exceptions to Smith's suggestions include filling out government forms, such as tax returns, or to sources you know you can trust to protect your information. Lord Erroll, chairman of the Digital Policy Alliance, backed Smith's suggestions, pointing out that many banks use a person's date of birth as part of their verification process online.
Not everyone received Smith's suggestions so well however; Labour MP Helen Goodman found them totally outrageous. "This is the kind of behaviour that, in the end, promotes crime," she told the BBC News website. "It is exactly what we don't want. We want more security online. It's anonymity which facilitates cyber-bullying, the abuse of children. I was genuinely shocked that a public official could say such a thing."
Lord Erroll does not see it that way however, saying that cyberbullying is a different issue, and that there are technical ways to unmask bullies. He also countered that such people can use information you make public against you, or to impersonate you online.
Written by: James Delahunty @ 28 Oct 2012 19:02
