The present world we live in is dominated by live feeds, social media updates, tagged locations, and online information forums. It seems like second nature to constantly share information about oneself. In fact, it might even seem strange to to engage in the constant sharing of personal (and sometimes unnecessary) updates and information. Privacy is slowly beginning to fade as we begin to favor transparency. We live in a society that desperately wants to be available, noticed, and easily contacted. A growing number of the population does not give a second thought to posting their email addresses or phone numbers on public profiles and sites. An example of this would be a college student posting their resume on an open job board. Now, let’s stop and think about what information is on a resume; a full name, email address, phone number, home address, and a complete listing of all previous employers and education. This is an extremely personal list of information that now can be accessed by anyone who just so happens to come across the job board. This being said, what are the dangers and threats to consider when personal contact information such email addresses and phone numbers are made public?

One of the obvious consequences to posting personal contact information online would be an increased chance of receiving more spam in your email inbox. You might also receive more calls from solicitors. But, this is more of an annoyance than a danger. So, the question is, “where are the real dangers?”

When your email or phone number is shared publicly online, it becomes a portal for scammers and hackers. Something as simple as your email address actually gives away a substantial amount of information regarding a person. For example, numbers used in an email address could easily reference dates or years personal to the user. Letters or words in emails could reference initials, family names, identifying facts, or locations that can be used to gather and link together other personal information about a person. Posting phone numbers publicly online offers personal information such as location and name. When all of these little piece of information are linked together, one becomes an easier target for scammers to use to their advantage.

Having an email or phone number that is public increases a risk of online abuse and threatening messages. This decreases the well-being of the owner of the phone number and email address. This person can become a victim of manipulation. It is easier to be tricked into giving out or verifying personal facts or information.Whenone shares their personal contact information publicly with a certain company, one runs the risk of having personal information leaked. Their privacy may become compromised as well as the information intended to remain confidential.

Overall, when you post personal contact information such as your email address or phone number, you are chipping away your privacy and safety. There needs to be more awareness regarding privacy and public access to personal information on the internet.