Let’s start with a short story today. Amaya had just returned from her dream vacation in Bali. Sunsets, beach dinners, yoga retreats – she captured it all beautifully on her Instagram. As the digital saying goes, you eat or stay hungry, you need to keep feeding your followers to stay relevant. And her followers loved it. Comments poured in, and so did DMs from travel brands. But a week later, her joy turned unexpectedly sour.
Her online banking was accessed from a different country. Her email had multiple unauthorized login attempts. And strangely, a scammer called her mother, pretending to be from the passport office, with personal details Amaya was sure she’d only shared online.
She never imagined that her seemingly harmless posts – tagged with her location, full name, dates of travel, and even her pet’s name – were digital breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs that someone with bad intentions could easily piece together. She never thought her life could turn into a thriller crime movie like the ones she used to binge on Netflix! You’re getting what this story is pointing towards, right? Now, let’s get serious.
Why Keeping Personal Info Private Is More Important Than Ever
In 2025, we’re living in a hyperconnected world where sharing our lives online feels as normal as brushing our teeth or having breakfast. It’s almost expected. But every birthday wish, every #TBT school photo, every vacation update could potentially hand over critical information to people who don’t have good intentions – and it often happens without you even realizing it!
It’s no rocket science to understand that from identity theft to social engineering scams, oversharing opens the door to cybercriminals. Unintentionally, our everyday social media posts are like an open invitation, giving cybercriminals unauthorized and unlimited access to our digital lives, ready to cause havoc. If you’re doing the same every day and still safe, then maybe you’re like a small fish in a big pond, not yet bothered. But who knows when you might become a target, finding yourself in Amaya’s shoes?
What’s Happening Globally Right Now?
This isn’t just an issue for one specific country; it’s a global risk. Here are three key points highlighting what’s happening globally today:
- Data breaches are rising: According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, over 73% of individuals in the U.S. alone had their personal data compromised in a breach in the past two years.
- Social engineering is smarter: Hackers no longer just rely on guessing passwords. They exploit human behavior, often using information we ourselves post online.
- Digital footprints are permanent: Deleted posts or stories might be gone from your feed, but they’re not necessarily gone from the internet. Think of it like glitter – once it’s out there, it’s almost impossible to completely remove.
AI: Friend or Silent Threat?
And this, I would say, is the truly scary part! While we have to admit that AI helps us in many ways – organizing emails, suggesting content, even assisting with creative writing (like how it helps me refine my drafts; English isn’t an easy language at all, right?) – it also poses serious risks when personal data is freely available.
AI tools can:
- Scrape social media profiles in seconds. Even a normal person can learn to do this by simply understanding how to prompt an AI.
- Cross-reference data like email, birthdate, and hometown, which helps in guessing passwords or security questions.
- Clone voices or generate fake videos (deepfakes) using just a few seconds of audio or visuals. Honestly, this particular aspect truly frightens me! Can you imagine how dangerous that is?
In fact, a report from Europol warns that AI-generated impersonation scams could become one of the most dangerous cyber threats within the next five years.
Real-Life Examples:
Now, since I shared a fictional story at the beginning of the post, I’ll share some real-life examples to help you understand the current landscape.
- Paris Hilton’s Phone Hack (2005): Her T-Mobile account was accessed using basic information guessed from her public posts and press interviews. Private photos and contacts were leaked, a stark early warning about digital privacy.
- “Hey, Mum” Scam (2023): Thousands of UK families received WhatsApp messages from fraudsters pretending to be their children, often using public family information scraped online. This scam alone cost victims millions.
- LinkedIn & AI Cloning (2024): Multiple professionals reported their photos and bios were used to generate fake profiles powered by AI for fraudulent job offers and phishing attempts. This highlights AI’s role in creating believable digital decoys.
- Optus Data Breach (Australia, 2022): A massive cyberattack exposed the personal data of millions of Optus customers, including names, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, and even passport and driver’s license numbers. This incident led to significant public outcry and heightened awareness of data security risks.
- MOVEit Transfer Attacks (Global, 2023): This series of attacks exploited a vulnerability in the MOVEit file transfer software, impacting hundreds of organizations worldwide, including government agencies, financial institutions, and universities. Personal data of millions was compromised, demonstrating the widespread impact of supply chain attacks.
How to Protect Your Personal Info Online (Tips & Tricks)
Now, let’s learn a few tips and tricks to help us stay secure. These are the 101s that every internet user should keep in mind today!
- Think Before You Share: Don’t post your full birthdate, address, or school name. These details aren’t really necessary to share publicly, are they?
- Avoid Tagging Real-Time Locations: Don’t tag your current location when you’re still there. Technically speaking, we should do anything for a reason, right? Sharing your current location with 500 online friends isn’t necessary at all. For your security, your parents or guardians knowing your current whereabouts should be more than sufficient, isn’t it?
- Set Strong Privacy Settings: Limit who can see your posts, stories, and past content. Among your 500 friends or 10,000 followers, not everyone needs to know everything about you, do they?
- Regularly Review App Permissions and Connected Devices: Do it! This helps you know if your account is logged in anywhere else that you’re not aware of. This is a very simple yet very important step, I must say.
- Use Strong, Unique Passwords: Don’t be lazy when creating them. While it might be hard to recall complex passwords, using a password manager will solve that issue and help you avoid reusing credentials. Also, try to avoid using personal information like your birth year, month, date, nickname, or pet’s name in your password; they’re easy to find online.
- Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): It adds a second layer of protection even if your password is compromised.
- Watch for Phishing & Impersonation: Don’t click on links from unknown accounts. Someone unknown sharing a link with you is strange behavior in the first place, right? Be aware.
- Verify Requests: Always verify any requests for money, data, or login info — even if it “looks” like it’s from someone you know. A quick call or message through a different channel can save you a lot of trouble.
- Limit AI Exposure: Don’t feed AI tools your real personal information unless you trust the source and understand exactly how your data will be stored or used.
Following these tips should help keep you safe. Maybe you’ll miss out on some fun, like sharing your Bali trip in real-time so your friends know immediately. But why should you care who knows or not? People close to you will already know about the fun you’re having, and I think that’s enough!
Your digital life is like your home: inviting, personal, and yours. But would you leave your doors unlocked? Social media can be fun and empowering, but sharing less doesn’t mean you’re hiding — it means you’re protecting your story from being written by someone else.
So, pause before you post. Your privacy is powerful. And in today’s world, less shared is more safe.
