Washington - The majority of teens actively restrict the information they post to online profiles, keeping sensitive information like their full names or telephone numbers from strangers, according to a phone survey of 935 teens conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Of the 55% of online teens who maintain profiles on sites like Facebook or MySpace, 66% say their profiles are not visible to all Internet users; of those whose profiles are accessible to anyone, 46% say they give at least some false information.

However, nearly two-thirds of teens with profiles believe a motivated person could eventually identify them from information they post online.

Seventy-nine percent of teens have posted photos of themselves to their profiles; 29% include an e-mail address; and half list which school they attend.

"Teens are manifesting the tension between wanting to keep themselves safe online and wanting to share themselves with their friends and potentially make new ones," Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist at Pew, told the Associated Press.

"Teens, particularly girls and younger teens, have gotten the message about protecting themselves on social networks, but the fun of these networks is the ability to share yourself with others on them."

Related Links:
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/211/report_display.asp

http://tinyurl.com/ysa4xy (Pew Report: PDF)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/ap_on_hi_te/internet_youths_2 (AP)