By Shannon McKenna and Sarah Jacques
Round Table editors
“By giving people the power to share, we’re making the world more transparent.”
-Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook
Sometimes posting information on the internet, even though it may seem safe, can be risky. You might be giving out a bit more information then you know.
Certain statuses may seem casual, but giving out information about where you are, what you’re doing and when you won’t be home could potentially put you into dangerous situations.
According to MSNBC, police in Connecticut arrested a 21-year-old man, accusing him of raping a 14-year-old girl he found on MySpace. On Long Island, investigators say another man found the work address of a 16-year-old girl on one of the Web sites last fall, lured her to a parking lot, and sexually assaulted her after he found her information online.
Sites often claim that they protect all your information from outside users so that your information can only be viewed by the friends and family you choose. However, sites like Facebook are able to post information like cell phone numbers, addresses, age, and your high school or university without your knowledge.
The government has become involved in this serious situation. In 1986, Congress passed the Stored Communications Act as part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to address privacy issues attendant to the advent of the internet.
Through the SCA, Congress intended to restrict disclosure of private communications by providers of electronic communications services. However, privacy can still easily be violated online.
Even people you are not friends with can see certain posts on your preferred social networking site. If you posted a status about someone you dislike, the person could easily view the status simply by searching for your profile.
Since online users have the ability to post comments and information all over the internet, they are putting themselves into risky situations where other users could possibly use their information to manipulate their livelihoods.
