The same logic behind your family's everyday safety practices can be applied when discussing and identifying safe Internet practices for you, your spouse, and your children, as well as the nature of your online interactions with friends, extended family members, and the public. The level of safety people need or want differs from one person to another. Your rules are based on your personal and family values, your risk tolerance or risk aversion levels, how interested you are in reaching out to new people, and your age and the ages and maturity level of your children. Your comfort level with technology also plays a role in how you create and enforce Internet protections. Technical experts will have a different perspective toward their online activities than someone who is technophobic. When you think about your own comfort level from this perspective, you will probably find that your online safety needs mirror the level of safety you have established in the offline world. |