Ancient Internet Safety Protocol
For comparison to current internet, here was my internet use protocol developed over time starting back when you couldn't choose your own username, but had to remember your string of random numbers and letters to log into your ISP. The reason for these? My mother was VERY active on the bulletin boards and was trying to keep me and my sister (two preteen girls very enthusiastic about the internet) safe.
Do not reveal your real name on the open internet. Especially do not reveal your last name. If you're using a name on the open internet, it will be one that you've chosen to use or a nickname related to your avatar or username. Shed your name if you feel unsafe; it has served its purpose. Your actual name is to be shared only with people you trust and consider friends enough that you'd want to communicate with them offline. Even then, only give them your first name. Anyone else does not need your name.
Do not share your phone number on the open internet. Share it with only people you trust and in as close to private correspondence as you can get. (We took ours out of the phonebook and became unlisted.)
Do not share your face on the open internet. People do not need to know what you look like unless and until you are going to see each other offline. Random people do not get to have from you more information than you've actively shared with them. Recognition and your physical location are afforded to only those of the highest level of trust.
Do not give anyone your address. Period. End of. Not even businesses. Do not trust a fragile infrastructure with your physical safety. (We had a PO box for correspondence and purchases, including with internet friends.) Give only your state (or large city or country or time zone), if you want to give people a general feel for where you are.
Omission based upon privacy is not the same thing as lying. :)
No one is owed information about you, even details like your age or gender. Refrain from sharing details about yourself. Be doubly, triply, and quadruply careful sharing anything on the open internet. The open internet is not the same thing as your friends. Caution is always a virtue.
Don't automatically trust someone just because you like them. Keep an eye out for the red flags that indicate scams, predators, or people who will cause you harm. Cut contact; no need to be polite, especially if someone is pushy towards sex or money or an offline meet, or if something doesn't line up with them in a way that feels uncomfortable or malicious. Your discomfort is more than enough of a reason to discontinue contact.
Always have offline backup if you're getting close to someone. Don't hide the situation if you are taking the online to the offline. Tell friends or someone else you trust and induct those online people into your offline world so there are multiple points of contact on both sides.
Have two emails, at least. A personal email and a professional email (and possibly a spam email). Use the professional one for professional things only, because it's the one attached to your real name. Don't mix your private life with your real name. Utilize throwaway emails early and often. Don't give employers anything about your private life.
These were the bare minimum. You can see where they're geared towards physical safety by prioritizing privacy and caution.
Are they a bit draconian? Maybe. Certainly now some of them are a bit impossible. I don't believe they were too much at the time, however, because I interacted with the internet in a fundamentally different way than I do now, and I was much, much younger and vastly more vulnerable.
Honestly? I'd still like it if people learned a modified version of these, probably focused on the steps you can take now to preserve privacy and the ability to judge the health of online relationships. The current nature of the internet is that online is no longer entirely separate from offline, yes, but the kinds of trust you can safely place in others on the internet is still something that I think needs to be relearned/retaught for the new internet landscape.
