Youths warned social networking profiles could jepordise their chances of getting into university

Young people are, reportedly, unaware that the material and photographs they post on social networking homepages such as bebo or facebook can do serious damage to their future.

Over 70 percent of young people surveyed by the Information Commissioner’s Office claimed they didn’t realise that any prospective employers or even colleges they applied to could find out what they’re up to and what kind of lifestyle they lead by simply entering their name into Google or Yahoo !

This 71 percent also said they definitely wouldn’t want said colleges or prospective employers seeing their pages even though, according to the survey, more than half of their pages are under public listing, making them available to the entire internet community.

Aside from this, the survey also found that most of the young’uns surveyed were putting themselves at risk of identity fraud by posting personal information on their pages.

According to the data regulator’s results, 10 percent of people give their home address on their page, 25 percent give their job title and 60 percent posted their date of birth.

Once informed, the ICO said that 95 percent of the people surveyed said they cared “a lot” about what their personal details were being used for. The data regulator will be launching a site to educate youngsters on the ways of social networking sites and how to keep their information safe.