Always remember to use as much caution online as you do in your day-to-day life when interacting with strangers, especially with regards financial transactions. Always be mindful of the information you supply online and learn to protect yourself from unscrupulous individuals. These tips will help you better manage your online presence and safety:

Privacy
Connect Nigeria allows you keep in touch with friends, but keeping those interactions free of personal information like your password, full name and personal information is important.

It’s also very important to protect your identity by not posting personal information online. Use your privacy settings to protect sensitive information in your profile private. Remember that information such as last name, address, phone numbers, school or work name, and date of birth can be used to identify you in real life.

Never give your password out. If someone gains access to your password they can read your mail, buy stuff with your credit card information, and obtain personal and identifiable information. They can change your profile, play pranks using your name, and possibly get you kicked off our service. They can also change your password and lock you out of your account.

Choose a password that is easy for you to remember but cannot be easily guessed. You may want to change your password frequently, even once a month (but make sure you remember it). Be careful if someone is watching you enter your password — they could look over your shoulder and steal it.

It’s important to know the difference between real-life friends and online friends. Chatting with your best friend from school is very different from chatting with someone you only know online. An online friend may not be someone you can trust. So be smart when you talk with people you don’t know in real life – never give out information that will allow them to find you offline. Information such as the school you attend, the teams you are on, the place where you work, your address, your telephone number, or your detailed description when linked with other information can help someone find you if they are looking very hard.

Be careful where else you put information that is publicly accessible. Think before you post personal information on websites, friends’ websites, profiles, and digital registries.

Protect your image
Your online image is how people see you based on what you post and share online — including blog entries, comments, photos, and social networking profiles. Even people who know you personally — like friends, teachers, or family members — may find out new things about you based on what you post online. That’s why it’s important to keep your online image in line with how you normally present yourself to those you respect. Think about what you share online. If it’s not something you’d share with everyone from your teachers to your friends, don’t put it on the Internet. Be respectful online and treat people the way you’d want to be treated. Don’t say anything to someone online that you wouldn’t tell them to their faces.

Rules for what you can post online
As long as your posts are not abusive, you can post pretty much anything online. You can post blog entries about your favorite music, sports, movies, or television shows. Post short videos of your friends and family. Post pictures from summer vacation, a link to a news story, or a review of the movie you saw last week.

Since what you post will almost always be linked to you, don’t post revealing personal information like your name, address, or passwords. Don’t post stuff that will reflect negatively on you if it’s something you wouldn’t want your parents or teachers to see, it shouldn’t go online. Remember that once something is posted online, you can quickly lose control of it. It’s easy for other people to take it, share it, edit it, and post it in other places. Always think before you post.\

Your rights
You have the right to enjoy your time online. You have the right to feel safe, to feel free to explore the wealth of content and community that is available through a variety of online services. You have the right to not respond to email or other messages that are inappropriate or make you feel scared. Harassing, threatening, posting obscene or otherwise objectionable content on Connect Nigeria is not allowed and is considered abuse.

If you get a message that you don’t feel right about, don’t respond. Instead, report the incident to the service provider by clicking on the Report Abuse link. This way, we can address the abuse ourselves. These reports are taken seriously and are kept confidential.

The website will review the report and determine whether the user’s actions really were “abuse” as outlined in the website’s Terms of Use. If the website finds that the actions were against the Terms of Use, then it will take appropriate action, which may include giving the user a warning, removing the user from the site or even reporting the actions to the authorities if necessary. These consequences are kept confidential.

Be alert
When chatting online, playing games, or posting messages, keep in mind that you don’t always know the people you are communicating with. Always use caution when approached by someone unknown, just as you would in real life. Reject invitations from unknown users and never respond to email or instant messages that make you feel uncomfortable. Remember, you can always report abuse to Connect Nigeria if you receive a message that makes you uncomfortable. You should never arrange a face-to-face meeting with an online-only acquaintance without informing a relative or trusted friend. Make decisions carefully. The Internet can be a great way to chat with people who have similar interests, but unfortunately, people are not always who they seem or say they are.

Questions and Assistance
If you have questions or need assistance with issues regarding safety, please contact us at:

Connect Nigeria
Safety Issues
info@connectnigeria.com

Effective Date: January 10, 2010