Web User - UK (2020-02-05)

Clickingtoacceptallcookiessavestime

butcouldcompromiseyourprivacy

Clickbait articles may seem harmless but

they may also try to harvest your data

What you must never click online

COVER

FEATURE

5 - 18 February 2020 43

Cookie‘accept’buttons
Whenyouvisita websitefromEurope
forthefirsttime,youshouldseea
messageregardingitsuseofcookies
fordatatracking,andbegiventhe
chancetooptoutofinstallingthem.
Thisis partoftheGDPR(GeneralData
ProtectionRegulation)andePrivacy
Directive(ePR)rulesintroducedin
2018.However,rejectingtrackingisn’t
alwaysaseasyasit shouldbe.

What’stherisk?
Whilemostofussimplyclickthe
‘Accept’buttonwhenfacedwitha
cookie/trackingwarning– especiallyif
there’snoclearopt-outbutton– it’s
worthtakingthetimetoreadthenotice
becauseit willtellyouexactlywhat
cookiesa websiteis goingtobeleaving
onyourcomputerandhowtheymight
trackyou,whichmayhavea significant
impactonyourprivacy.

Howtoavoidthem
A recentstudyof10,000websitesin the
UKfoundthatjust11.8%mettheminimal
requirementssetbyEuropeanlaw(bit
.ly/cookie494). Therestofthesitesused
‘darkpatterns’(seeoppositepage)to
makeit muchhardertooptoutof
tracking,usingtrickssuchasmakingthe
AcceptAllbuttonclearlyvisible,while
theopt-outoptionis hiddenseveral
clicksaway.It mightbea pain,butthe
lawwasintroducedtoprotectyour
privacy,soalwaysmaketheeffortto
findtheoptiontocontrolwhichcookies
areallowed,anddon’tjustblindly
acceptthemall.If you’renothappywith
thecookiepolicy,thenchooseReject.

Friendrequests
fromstrangers
Gettinga friendrequestfromsomeone
onsocialmediais usuallya goodthing,
unlessit’sa personyoudon’tlike,but
thelureofappearingpopularand
acceptinga requestfromsomeoneyou

don’tknowcancomeata price.

Occasionally,youmightevenreceive

a friendrequestfromsomeoneyou’re

alreadyfriendswith,whichisn’tjust

confusingbutcanalsoberisky.

What’stherisk?

Acceptinga friendrequestonFacebook

is equivalenttotellingthesocial

networkthatyoutrustthatperson,and

givesthemaccesstoeverythingyou

share,includingphotos,friends’lists,

andcontactinformation.Justasyou

probablywouldn’tinvitea strangerinto

yourhomeandleavethemaloneto

rummagethroughyourpossessions,

soyoushouldn’tgivejustanyonefree

reintoyourFacebookpage.Scammers

oftensetupfakeFacebookaccounts

withattractiveprofilephotosasa

meansofstealingprivatedatafrom

otherusersandspreadingmalware.

Howtoavoidthem

ThebeautyofFacebookis thatyoucan

controlwhoyouletintoyourinner

circle.If you’renotfriendswitha person

whosendsyoua request,don’taccept

it.Also,makesureyourprivacysettings

aretightlylockeddown– seelastissue’s

What’sNewOnlinefordetailsof

Facebook’simprovedPrivacyCheckup

tool,whichletsyoucontrolwhocan

sendyoufriendrequests.Toaccessit,

clickthequestion-markiconin the

top-rightcornerofanyFacebookpage

andchoosePrivacyCheckup.

Clonedfriendsareanotherproblem

youmayoccasionallyencounter.Thisis

whenyoureceivea fakefriendrequest

(completewiththesamenameand

profilepicture)forsomeoneyou’re

alreadyfriendswith.Therealpersonis

probablyunawarethata scammeris

usingtheiridentity– theymayeven

havefallenpreytoa fakerequest

themselves.Beforeacceptinga request

likethis,checktoseeif thepersonis still

onyourfriendslist(iftheyare,then

ignorethenewrequest)andmessage

them for confirmation. If in doubt,

delete the request and, if you’ve already

accepted, ‘unfriend’ them!

Clickbait

Clickbait is frequently found on social

media, sponsored adverts and websites

such as BuzzFeed, usually in the form

of stories with an intriguing headline

that’s designed to draw you in.

What’s the risk?

In most cases, the only risk is that you

waste time reading something that you

don’t care about, usually having to click

through multiple pages, each festooned

with adverts. In some cases – such as

clickbait quizzes “where only a genius

can get all of the questions right” – you

might be prompted to provide personal

information or share your ‘success’ with

your friends, thereby further spreading

the quiz’s reach.

How to avoid it

Clickbait stories sometimes come in the

form of numbered lists, with one singled

out as being shocking or unbelievable.

If our cover feature was presented as

clickbait, we’d change the headline

to ‘14 things you MUST never click

(number 7 will blow your mind!)’. If you

see a story that reveals nothing in the

headline but promises a massive pay-off

later (“you won’t believe what

happened next!”), it’s probably clickbait.

Don’t be fooled – you’re unlikely to be

missing anything, but giving it a wide

berth will safeguard your privacy.

PRIVACY THREATS

Facebook’s Privacy Checkup tool lets you

limit who can send you friend requests