Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft: Free Open Course on Social Media

POTSDAM, Germany, January 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The online learning platform of German Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), openHPI, is beginning the new year with a two-week online workshop, "Social Media - What No One Has Told You about Privacy". Starting on January 18th, participants find out what they need to pay attention to in managing their account so that their personal data doesn't fall into the wrong hands. All who are interested can register at this link for the free course in English, being taught by computer scientist Anne Kayem: https://open.hpi.de/courses/ws-privacy2016. Here you will also find an overview of all 12 offers in this year's new openHPI program.

"Whoever shares content over social media, for example Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Wikipedia, should be aware that he or she becomes interesting for companies who design a personality profile from the information, which they can then use for marketing purposes," says Kayem. She coordinates the work at the HPI Research School at the University of Cape Town and is currently a guest scientist at Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam.

Starting on January 18th, the workshop on security in social media begins with a short introduction on the history of social media. Topics such as choosing a secure password and setting up access control are addressed. Further, the methods used by cyber criminals and examples of attacks are explained. "Even people who do not, or hardly ever, use the Internet are not immune to data abuse and identity theft," warns Kayem. Therefore her course is recommended for everyone who wants to get advice on the topic of data protection.

HPI press contact: presse@hpi.de. Press spokesperson: Hans-Joachim Allgaier, Tel. +49-(0)331-5509-119