...about online privacy issues

I think there are 2 domains to this discussion (and perhaps more, but, hey, I'm a beginner, remember?).  The first one might more properly be termed security rather than privacy - the safe keeping of your own data, network, etc.  Then there is privacy, which I consider to be more about what you yourself may be putting on the Internet and what expectations of privacy you may for for that information.

As I think about my own online security I kind of think about it like driving a car.  If I am wearing my seatbelt, driving the speed limit and am aware of my surroundings there is not much I can do if another driver crosses the center line or runs a stop sign and plows into me.  In computing I think of it like this: if I have secured my home network, have virus protection on my computer(s), keep my passwords protected and don't respond to phishing scams then I have done what I can do.  I hope that no one hacks my information, just like I hope I don't get in a car accident, but if I've taken all the preventative measures that I possibly can then there isn't much more I can really do about it.  I'm not going to stop driving a car because someone might hit me, that isn't practical.  Neither is it practical to avoid using the Internet because of the threat that could be posed by hackers and the like.

As for an expectation of privacy on the Internet I have a couple of thoughts.  First, I think that the best course of action is to operate with the assumption that anyone can get to anything you put out on sites like Facebook.  I know that you can manipulate your privacy settings in a million different ways but in order to 'be on the safe side' I think that the 'grandma' rule should apply here.  As far as some other sites, there IS an expectation of privacy when you register with them to use their services - places such as banking websites, photo storage providers, etc. 

I liked what the article Footprints by Will Richardson said about 'Googling well'.  To some extent the employers, admissions counselors, etc of the future are going to expect to find some sort of online presence for people they are considering for their organizations.  Like Richardson said, I think it is important that we control what we put out there precisely for these purposes.  As future teachers I think the important implication is that we help make students aware of this 'Googling well/poorly' idea and help them to use the Internet properly in order to put themselves out there in the best possible light.