There are some things that we should never share online. Sensitive information, personal details, and embarrassing stories are just a few of the things that we should keep to ourselves. However, if you're not careful, you can easily make yourself vulnerable to cyber attacks and identity theft by sharing too much information online. This blog post will discuss some things you should never share online.

Some things should remain confidential information.

Sharing things online seems to be standard practice nowadays for many people. We post and share many things about ourselves, from photos and videos of ourselves and our friends, events, places we went to, material possessions, and other information. It seems harmless to share almost everything online, but there can be some dangers to doing such a thing.

Your online safety and personal life can be at risk when so many things about you float publicly online. Not to sound paranoid, but identity thieves and hackers do exist. Hackers steal information without permission for their gain. At the same time, identity thieves will try to masquerade as you online and do acts that can tarnish your reputation while gaining something out of it. To a lesser degree, we can feel a bit worried about what companies may do to our data, as they keep asking for them as we use their services through applications and websites.

We can control what we put online, and it's all about making a conscious decision to pick the things that are okay for everybody else to see and what are not. Knowing what is okay to share online and what is better kept private is good. The following are some of the things that are considered personal information that is better kept to ourselves.

1. Location data

Some social media sites like Facebook can track your location through GPS, and you can even post where you are currently located and let others know about it. However, it doesn't sound like a good idea. For example, if you post your location while on vacation or when you are away from home, people will know you are not at your house. For evildoers, it is a golden opportunity for them to rob your house, knowing no one is there. Of course, one may think you are being paranoid if you keep thinking someone will steal from your house, but the truth is that you are increasing the chances of someone doing it if they know about your absence from your home. So it's better to keep your current location private unless there is an emergency and you want to let somebody know where you are to receive help.

2. Information about yourself

Many kinds of information serve as descriptors of ourselves, such as a home address, birth date, cell phone number, full name, identification numbers, place of employment, etc. It used to be that this kind of information could only be found in printed documents that we submitted to various organizations when we needed to apply for or obtain something. Of course, said organizations know about us through these documents. Nowadays, even ordinary folk can learn many things about us if we display private information publicly on our profiles on different social media sites or websites. It may seem harmless, but if someone with ill intentions chooses to use our data for evil purposes, they can easily do so because they see these data on our profiles. They may figure out our passwords when hacking, such as when we choose vital data about ourselves as passwords or as answers to a security question for different accounts and sites. It will be best to keep information private unless a website or application requires them to be displayed in public. If they are required to be displayed, ensure the websites or applications are trustworthy.

3. Any information about finances or money

How much you earn, how much money is in your bank account, pictures of your ATM or credit cards with the card number visible, and any financial statements are things you should keep to yourself and not show others. For one, people may see you as a braggart if they see your photos where you are holding your cash in a fan-like shape. Second, others will know how wealthy you are and may use that to take advantage, use you, or worse, steal money from you. So keep any financial information to yourself, and don't post online anything about them.

4. Pictures, posts, and videos that contain private matters about you and your family, friends, etc.

Privacy is becoming less private in the age of social media and the Internet. Almost everything about ourselves can be shared publicly, and anyone worldwide can see them. Some have practically lost the concept of privacy that they share and post even matters that should only be kept to themselves, such as fights with family members or friends, moments of solitude or mourning, or situations that should only stay inside your room. As a result, your life becomes a public spectacle, and people can add additional stress by butting into your affairs, making resolving conflicts more troublesome. Unless you are craving attention, it's best to keep private matters offline and deal with them only with the closest people you have in your life and don't include strangers that will do nothing to solve your problem.

5. Anything that can tarnish your reputation

Many people have treated their social media accounts and the Internet like a public place where they can share or say anything they want. If we feel bad and like to rant, we post it. If we have an opinion about something or like to highlight various events, we also tend to share them online. These things can seem harmless, but if someone has something against you, they can turn what you post against you and use it to gain an advantage. Posts that contain unsavory moments like getting drunk or partying wildly may affect how others see us and cost us something like our jobs. A good rule to remember when posting something online is if it is something we don't want our loved ones to see, then it's better not to post about them. Also, if you think others can get triggered about what you are about to post, you better not do it and keep it to yourself.

Keep things private

No rule governs how we should behave online and what we should post. Therefore, it is up to our discretion what we should share online. Most of the time, sharing things online is a harmless activity. Still, sometimes, we can be setting ourselves up for trouble if we post something that others may take advantage of or trigger an unpleasant reaction from others. We should always keep private whatever we are not comfortable sharing in public, and that's why we need to think first before tapping or clicking anything that will share our info, thoughts, or any information that might be sensitive. Just because the online space may seem like a public space doesn't mean we should let others see everything about us in plain sight.