For many people, the internet is a convenient way to keep in touch with friends and manage finances. But as our cyber lives grow, how much are we sharing with undesirable others?
Detective Sergeant Brett Roberts, of Dunedin police, describes identity fraud and stalking as "the two biggest issues" associated with technology.
While not prevalent in the South, people needed to be aware of what information was available about them on line, and how easy it was to access.
"Two important things in life are being alive and your identity."
If someone steals your identity it is difficult to get it back, he says.
Identities could be stolen in many different ways but was usually done by someone known to the victim.
There are several easily accessible websites from which various pieces of information are available, including where you live and your date of birth.
Social networking sites were an obvious port-of-call for information, as profiles could include workplace, full name, location, date of birth and email addresses.
Security settings can be changed to block people from viewing such information, but many leave themselves open by not thinking about what they are sharing.
"If you leave Facebook open, people can access you and they can access your family and friends."
Det Sgt Roberts also says a person's site is only as secure as their friends' sites.
Information about a user could be found through other people's profiles, including events and photographs.
"It's fine as a sharing site. It's just that everything that's put there is there for ever and a day."
Another easy way for a person to gain information about someone was through a website called CarJam.
With a registration number, a person could access a car's full ownership history for a small fee.
If the information is an address, obtainable for most people through the electoral roll, a rates search on the Dunedin City Council website names the owner of the house and its capital value, and produces an aerial photo of the property.
If someone has an address, they can visit your house on rubbish day and access any documents you threw out, such as bank statements, Inland Revenue Department correspondence or personal letters.
Det Sgt Roberts says he does not want to alarm anyone, but encourage people to think about "basic security" to protect their identity and personal information.
Cases in which peoples' bank accounts were hacked and money stolen because they did not have secure computers were common.
He recommended installing "basic security", such as firewalls and anti-viral software.
How easy is it to gather information about a person on the internet?
I put it to the test and carried out a quick search of a 25-year-old anonymous acquaintance.
What I found in 30 minutes would have created a decent profile for use by any potential stalker or identity fraudster.
His social networking site was reasonably secure but photos of himself were still viewable and access to many of his 200 friends was easy.
A fake profile created for another networking site allowed me to discover his age, workplace and educational history.
Through the electoral roll, his address could be found.
Once it was entered in the Dunedin City Council rates information database, how much his property was worth was available and a photograph of it was viewable.
A quick check on CarJam also produced information about the car he drives and that vehicle's ownership history.
A search engine trawled the internet and his hobbies quickly became obvious.
While he was not concerned about the "uninteresting" information found about him, he was surprised about the amount of it - he had not believed much could be found about him on the internet.