Cyber-Bullying and Social Networking Identity Theft
With the meteoric rise in cyber-bullying, parents are desperate to find a way to shield their children. Unfortunately, most parents are far behind their child’s proficiency with technology. Many don’t text, aren’t on Facebook, and are oblivious to the many ways in which kids can taunt each other with technological ease. Although children may be quick and nimble with technology, they lack the maturity to understand its consequences.
A recent article in the New York Times on Digital Bullying (read the MSN version here) addressed these very issues and gave true and heart-wrenching accounts of how parents were left helpless at the hands of their children’s online bullies. “I’m not seeing signs that parents are getting more savvy with technology,” said Russell A. Sabella, former president of the American School Counselor Association. “They’re not taking the time and effort to educate themselves, and as a result, they’ve made it another responsibility for schools.”
Kids have a great deal of anonymity on the internet if they want it, and can easily impersonate another child or steal their identity. This modified form of identity theft (character theft, I tend to call it), allows the bully to hide behind his or her computer with no real consequences for what they are saying. A scathing remark made in passing by one child can haunt another child for the rest of their lives.
6 Things You Should Never Reveal on Facebook
Yahoo.com just published the following article that every Facebook user should read. I recommend you follow each of these suggestions, and if you want to learn more, read my Facebook Safety Survival Guide.
6 Things You Should Never Reveal on Facebook
by Kathy Kristof
The whole social networking phenomenon has millions of Americans sharing their photos, favorite songs and details about their class reunions on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and dozens of similar sites. But there are a handful of personal details that you should never say if you don’t want criminals — cyber or otherwise — to rob you blind, according to Beth Givens, executive director of the Privacy Rights Clearing House.
The folks at Insure.com also say that ill-advised Facebook postings increasingly can get your insurance canceled or cause you to pay dramatically more for everything from auto to life insurance coverage. By now almost everybody knows that those drunken party photos could cost you a job, too.
You can certainly enjoy networking and sharing photos, but you should know that sharing some information puts you at risk. What should you never say on Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site?
Your Birth Date and Place
Sileo Discusses Facebook Privacy on Fox & Friends Tomorrow
Don’t Miss John on Fox & Friends Tomorrow Morning!
September 15th, 2010 7:15 a.m. ET, 4:15 a.m. PT
Join Fox and Friends hosts Gretchen Carlson, Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade as they interview John Sileo about Facebook Privacy, Identity Theft and John’s latest book Privacy Means Profit on Fox’s morning show.
Facebook: Press 2 For Law Enforcement
I received an email last night from a well-known TV anchor wanting my input on a new Facebook issue. He’d read that when calling Facebook Headquarters, the automated attendant comes on and gives you options to reach each department, and the second option was to press 2 for “law enforcement.”
It could seem odd to many, but it’s true. If you call the Facebook Headquarters (650-543-4800) and reach the switchboard, the 1st option is “For customer support, press 1″ and the second option is “For law enforcement, press 2″. Law enforcement comes ahead of business development, marketing, press, and employment verification in the list of options.When you press 2, the next message says: “This message is only for members of law enforcement. Please note that due to a very large volume of incoming calls, the current call back time is two to four business days. For a faster response, please leave your work authorized email address… A member of Facebook’s security team will email in a timely manner.” Which means that Facebook is very busy fielding calls from law enforcement.
The anchor, and the rest of us, want to know why!
How to Disable Facebook Places
Last week Facebook introduced a new location tracking application called Facebook Places. This gives users the ability to check in with Facebook from their mobile device and update their friends (and even tag their friends) on where they are. What many Facebook users don’t realize is that this tool is currently activated by default, and in order to turn it off, users have to go in and adjust their privacy settings. Until you do that, your friends can check you in to different locations (and you may not even be there!).
Here is the step by step process to disable Facebook Places:
1. Log into your Facebook account, and at the top right drop down menu under Account click Privacy Settings.Once you are in Privacy Settings you will see this screen:
2. Click Custom (if that isn’t your selection already) and then click below 0n Customize Settings.
3. You should see the following screen, where you will need to make 2 changes – first, to Things I share and then to Things others share. Under Things I share click on the drop-down box next to Places I check in to click custom and chose to make this visible to Only Me.
5. Scroll down on the Customize page to Things others share:
Facebook Status Update Leads to Robbery
When you are ‘friends’ with people on Facebook that you are not actually friends with, how do you know whether they have good intentions?
A recent segment on CNN discusses the risks that you may be taking while updating your Facebook status. You don’t know who is looking at your private information because it’s really not private – it’s public. Keri McMullen found this out the hard way after she posted a simple status message that she was going to see a band with her fiance. It only took the burglars calling the venue to find out what time the show was starting to know when they could break into her home. The burglars showed up 35 minutes after the McMullens left for the concert.
It is that simple. You post a casual message to your “friends” that could turn into a nightmare where, like Keri, you lose upwards of $11,000 in personal property. They were lucky that they had cameras installed in the home and were able to catch the perpetrators on film. After posting pictures of them on her Facebook page (a good use of social networking), another friend recognized the intruders as Keri’s high school classmate.
Facebook Hits 500 Million Users: 3rd Largest Country
Facebook has the Population of the Third Largest Country
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 marked a big day for Facebook. CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg announced in a blog post that the social networking website hit over 500 million users in only 6 years.
If you take a look at the worlds largest countries in terms of population (as of today according to Wikipedia) you find that China is #1 with 1,339,130,000, India is #2 with 1,184,513,000 and #3 is the United States with only 309,944,000. This would mean that if Facebook were a real country with their population of 500,000,000, then it would clearly surpass the USA for the #3 ranking.
Many believe that Facebook will hit a billion users in less than a year by looking the rapid growth they have encountered since their founding. With their fast expansion the privacy issues on the website keep mounting as well. Make sure when you are using Facebook you are using it with the best possible protections – your common sense. Click here to learn more on Facebook Safety for users and parents of users.
Why Facebook Privacy Settings Don’t Matter
A new article in PC world discusses why the privacy settings on Facebook don’t matter – it instead blames the user for their own data breach. It recommends that those on Facebook should use their common sense and think in the long term. By controlling what you share and only sharing what is responsible Facebook is no longer in charge of your privacy.
Why Facebook Privacy Settings Don’t Matter
John C. Dvorak – I find it endlessly amusing how so many articles are written about Facebook and its cavalier lack of concern over privacy issues (case in point: Read Dan Costa’s column). A large community is up in arms over the fact that Facebook consistently changes the way it operates and constantly resets the privacy settings of the users to nil, as in NO PRIVACY.
This amuses me because it seems as if the majority of Facebook users don’t even know about or care about the privacy settings. Once in a while some old lady is flabbergasted by the fact that anyone can write on her wall, sure. And once in a blue moon some teenage girl says she “didn’t know” her teachers could see her comments. All the while the users of Facebook are increasing by the millions as the complaints are increasing by the thousands, thus amounting to nothing of consequence.
The Facebook Movie Will Prove You’re an Addict
The new movie on Facebook entitled “The Social Network” released its first teaser trailer. The film, better recognized as “The Facebook Movie,” follows the early days of the world’s most powerful social networking site. It follows Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, from the creation of the website through the destruction of a friendship with his co-founders. In the process, it exposes the history behind the information sharing site that Facebook users will wish they knew sooner.
Facebook has had overwhelming success and gained huge momentum since they began in a Harvard dorm room in 2005. Their ability to get you and I to share personal information that we normally wouldn’t has made privacy a huge concern with the site. Zukerberg has faced scrutiny recently with the privacy changes that make more of your information available to businesses on Facebook that purchase your data in order to sell to you in a more targeted way.
And here’s the interesting thing. The movie will undoubtedly make you uncomfortable about how your private information is being used, but you won’t probably change what you share. You’ve been addicted to the drug without knowing you were even taking a dangerous substance. While quitting may not be an option for you, tightening your Facebook privacy settings definitely is. Making sure that you are as safe as possible on Facebook is important to all users – especially the young ones.
Are Your Kids Safe Online?
As a parent you are often worried about what your kids are being exposed to on the Internet. Apparently so are Facebook and the PTA. They have teamed up to teach parents and children about responsible Internet use. They plan to cover cyber-bullying, internet safety and security and “citizenship online,” according to a news release.
“Nothing is more important to us than the well-being of the people, especially the many teenagers, who use Facebook,” said Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer.
Facebook is the number one social media site with over 500 million users and a minimum age requirement of 13. Even that requirement can be easily fudged because Facebook has no way of verifying a user’s age besides asking for their birth date when they register. Parents are having trouble deciding whether to let their children join Facebook prematurely and what they should be cautious of if they do so.
Learn more on Protecting Your Children Online.
It is important to be educated when dealing with any form of social media or social networking website. Social networking is immensely powerful and is here for the long run, but we must learn to harness and control it. You should know the ins and outs, pros and cons, risks and rewards to using these online tools. Because teens and children don’t necessarily have the life experiences to recognize the risks, parents must educate themselves and pass that knowledge on with open and honest discussions on Facebook and Online Safety.
Sileo In the Media
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