When it comes to keeping your personal and private information personal and private on your social networking sites, there are a few steps that you can take to ensure that you have at least made some effort at making the job of stealing that information a little harder for any potential criminals that might have that on the brain.  In addition to making sure that your screen name doesn’t provide too much information and that you are not accepting the site’s recommended amount of privacy, consumers can go a few steps further into making sure they don’t find themselves on the messy end of an identity theft.  For example, the very act of being aware that every single thing you post on your social networking site is permanent is a great step to take.  There is no such thing as deleting information.  It never ever goes away.  So rather than take a giant Sharpie to print personal information about yourself to say, everyone in the world who has access to the internet, a little common sense can go a long way.  Remember when your mom told you not to ever do anything that you wouldn’t want printed on the front page of the New York Times?  (Was that just my mom?)  Well, the same goes for your social networking sites.  If it’s something you don’t want absolutely everyone knowing and having access to forever, then it’s best to not post it at all.  Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know.  This is the new cyber version of stranger danger.  Don’t take candy from strangers, don’t get into their cars, don’t get too close to them, and don’t let them have access to your personal information.  And believe it or not, but there is an awful lot of personal information buried in all that information about how much you love Rock of Love and Real Housewives of New Jersey.  A lot.

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