That’s right, today is Data Privacy Day. It’s a day marked to raise awareness on protecting personal information online, especially on social networking sites.

What does it mean for you? It might not be an official holiday, but it’s a good reminder of the ways that all of us can better secure our private data and our Internet privacy.

With the sheer number of us on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites these days – posting and exchanging sensitive personal data – we need to be aware of the information that we share and how it affects both our security and our ‘online reputation’. Take the results of this Microsoft-commissioned survey, on the extent to which information available online affects hiring decisions, into consideration: 79 percent of hiring managers and job recruiters in the United States reviewed online information about job applicants, and 70 percent say they have rejected applicants based on information in their online profiles.

More information about Data Privacy Day, as well as resources on how to protect your information, is available on the Data Privacy Day 2010 site.