UK Gov't Official Advises Using Fake Details On Social Networks

another random user writes "A senior government official has sparked anger by advising internet users to give fake details to websites to protect their security. Andy Smith, an internet security chief at the Cabinet Office, said people should only give accurate details to trusted sites such as government ones. He said names and addresses posted on social networking sites 'can be used against you' by criminals. ... 'When you put information on the internet do not use your real name, your real date of birth,' he told a Parliament and the Internet Conference in Portcullis House, Westminster. 'When you are putting information on social networking sites don't put real combinations of information, because it can be used against you.' But he stressed that internet users should always give accurate information when they were filling in government forms on the internet, such a tax returns."

Comments

Re:My details...

[Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't even have to be an MP. I'm a local party officer for one of the major parties; I get a full copy of the electoral roll for the district every year and updates when it changes. Although I at least keep my copy inside a TrueCrypt volume.

Re:major points here

[PPH]

Its a federal offense to give incorrect information to a federal official. Or to any entity that has a statutory duty to make reports to the federal government.

Some businesses have tried to leverage this second point to make the claim that they might have to turn data over to the gov't. So what you have on file with them must be correct. But I don't think courts have backed them up on this one. Yet.