How can I protect my privacy online?

last updated: 15.08.08

For many people, a profile page on participatory platforms and social networks is a way of getting their work 'out there', to check out what other artists are doing, and to connect and collaborate.

But you also need to bear in mind that once you have put information about yourself online, it is likely to be there forever.

So here are a few helpful tips regarding on-line privacy and Pool

You can update your profile details at any time. But it’s worth having a think about how you want to present your online identity. Perhaps write your profile and review it the following day before posting it.

Choose a name you can live with today, tomorrow and in five years time! Once it's online, it’s online forever - in the google cache, or on someone's server, somewhere.

It's so easy to post a hot comment or flip forum quip, but balance that immediacy by thinking carefully about what you say and how you say it.

You can read more deeply into the issues in this interview with online privacy researcher Francesca de Wytt.