Social networking marks a huge cultural change in the way in which people communicate and personal information is being put into the public domain on an unprecedented scale.

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) feel, there is a need for public awareness about what can happen to information once it is voluntarily placed online, as such having been first published and readily available in the public domain.

Recent findings of new research from Ipsos MORI, commissioned by the PCC, in which 1000 Uk web users aged 16-64 were interviewed, reveals some astonishing facts:

• 89% of web users think there should be clear guidelines about the type of personal information that can be published online so that they can complain if this material is wrong or intrusive.
• 80% of youngsters in the UK use social networking websites. Yet it appears very few think about the personal details and consequences of such when they publish online.
• 78% of the entire adult online population would change information they publish about themselves or others online if they thought the material could later be reproduced in the mainstream media.
• 55% of people think before posting information that it might later be used by journalists or employers without their consent.
• 42% of web users aged 16-24 know someone who has been embarrassed by information uploaded on to the internet without their consent.

Whilst the majority finding was for more public awareness about what can happen to information once it is voluntarily put into the public domain, at present, there appears not to be a privacy safety net.

If you or anyone else, publishes information online, even if its subsequently deleted, it was still noted as published in the public domain, as such available for viewing by the public.

In June, the PCC held an event in conjunction with the Westminster Media Forum, at which representatives of the media, legal, online and political worlds discussed these issues further.

Commenting on the findings, PCC Chairman Sir Christopher Meyer said:

This clearly has implications for the PCC, which has always had the task of deciding where to draw the boundaries between what newspapers and magazines may legitimately publish and what can rightly be considered private.

The challenge remains the same for online editorial content, including material taken from social networking sites. In the digital age, self-regulation, with its sound principles and speed of operation, has never been more relevant.

That is why I expect our current Code of Practice to be able to handle complaints in this area; and in the process to enable the Commission over the coming months and years to define through its decisions the boundary between the private and the public.

But there are wider cultural and other issues going beyond the PCC to be debated, which is why we have taken the initiative of conducting the survey and holding the Westminster Media Forum event.

The bottom line: despite concern from the public, there are no new rules, and journalists would have resisted any new regulations as they would be difficult to enforce.

The big question:  how do you define press intrusion in a digital age?

The answer: with great difficulty, when using social networking sites and photo galleries, let your watchword be take care.  Under fair use policies, the media can and will if necessary use that information, which may well come back to bite you.