At Emergency /HardshipTimes

What you can do to better protect yourself on the Internet? Know the risks.
Meeting new people in an online community (chat room, forum, newsgroup, message board, Web page, etc.) is one of the best things about the Internet, but you should always be careful about disclosing personal information such as an actual name, member name, email address, and so on. This information may be collected and used by others within the online community to send unsolicited email messages from other parties, outside the Lycos Network. Some of the messages you receive may be useful to you, but some may not. In an effort to curtail unsolicited email, Lycos blocks certain email addresses and domains from sending messages to email addresses at our domains.

Educate yourself.
Search the Web for as much information as you can about how to protect your privacy. Look for a privacy policy on the Web sites you visit. A good place to start is TRUSTe -- an independent, non-profit organization with a mission to build trust and confidence in the Internet. The Federal Trade Commission has a great Web site with useful information on being a Savvy Internet Traveler along with other privacy initiatives. Additional privacy resources can be found at by clicking on any of the following links

Department of Education: Parents Guide to the Internet
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents /internet/

Better Business Bureau (BBB)
http://www.bbbonline.com

Center for Democracy and Technology
http://www.cdt.org/privacy/ - Data Privacy
http://www.cdt.org/privacy/guide/ - Guide to Online Privacy

Direct Marketing Association (DMA)
http://www.the-dma.org/

Electronic Frontier Foundation - non-profit dedicated to protecting public interest in online privacy.
http://www.eff.org

EPIC.org (Electronic Privacy Information Center)
http://www.epic.org

Georgetown Internet Privacy Study
http://www.msb.edu/faculty/culnanm/gippshome.html

Net Nanny - child safety software that filters potentially harmful Web sites
http://www.netnanny.com/

NetCoalition.com
http://www.netcoalition.com

Network Advertising Initiative
http://www.networkadvertising.org/

Online Privacy Alliance
http://www.privacyalliance.org/

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
http://www.privacyrights.org/

Tell your children: "Never talk to strangers!"
While Lycos works hard to protect children on the sites within the Lycos Network, we cannot protect their privacy once they leave. Please teach children that they should not reveal their names or other personal information to anyone they encounter on the Internet. They should also be instructed not to fill out any forms or register at any Web site without your knowledge and consent. Parents can also prevent or limit a child's access to inappropriate material on the Web by using commercially available parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software, or filtering services). Take advantage of the online resources for parents available on the Lycos Network, such as SearchGuard and GetNetWise.

Use PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) http://www.pgp.com or another encryption program.