Law Enforcement and Social Media

It’s common knowledge that most criminals aren’t the smartest people around.  Many of them are so proud of their crimes that they feel the need to tell people about them.  This has happened a lot in the past, but now, that just about everyone has at least one social media account, the criminals now have a wider audience they can brag to.  Before social media, it took a while for word to spread about how “George” burglarized 10 houses in one night.  Now, with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the word can go out immediately to thousands of people. 

 

While spreading the word mouth-to-mouth took a while, it also took the police to catch up with these criminals.  Social media, along with the egos of criminals, has now made arresting some of these crooks a quick, simple process.  Things go a lot quicker for the police when criminals are posting about their crimes on Facebook and Twitter, posting pictures of their “haul” on Instagram and even posting videos of the crime, as it’s happening, on YouTube. Like I said, criminals aren’t the smartest people around.

 

While criminals have long discovered that bragging about crimes they commit on social media lets people know how “bad” they are, the police are now discovering how to use Pinterest as a means to catch criminals.  In Redwood City, California, police have used Pinterest to post photos of items recovered from arrests in order to return them to their rightful owners.  Detective Dave Stahler had success using Pinterest in February when he posted a picture of a family heirloom that was recovered among other stolen jewelry.  Three users called in tips within a few hours of the post going up.

In Richmond, Virginia, police have used Pinterest to solve murder cases and a town in Pennsylvania set up a Pinterest board to post mug shots.  Arrests for theft, sexual assault and fraud have seen a 57% increase since this board was set up.  Hopefully, more towns will see the usefulness of this and begin their own mug shot boards.

Is Social Media Stressing Your Kids?

It’s part of my job to search the Internet for subjects that have to do with Internet privacy.  In the past couple of months, I’ve seen a lot of questions on answer sites that have to do with kids and social media.  Most of these questions involve getting “Likes” on their social media pages.

Kids today are under enough pressure in their real lives when it comes to school and grades.  Now, it seems that these kids are adding pressure on themselves all because of social media.  Instead of worrying about having an active social life with real friends, these kids are stressing over the fact that their Facebook profile picture isn’t getting enough likes.  If they don’t have enough followers or “Likes” on Instagram and Twitter, it’s like the end of the world.

I have seen 13 year olds begging for likes because it’s “embarrassing” that their profile picture only got 10 “Likes” on Facebook.  Others are depressed that they only have 15 followers on Instagram.  Others yet are blogging on Tumblr about personal things and asking strangers to read their blogs and follow them. 

 

They are actually going on answer sites to beg for “Likes” and followers.  Not only that, it has become so important to them that they are actually going to sites to buy “Likes” and followers.  It’s scary to think that these kids are our future, yet they find nothing wrong with the practice of buying “Likes”.  When did it become acceptable to buy rewards instead of earning them?  I’d like to know how many parents are keeping track of their kids’ social media pages to see that they are actually cheating and if they approve of this cheating.  In other words:  What are we teaching our kids?

The cost isn’t a lot, but in order to pay the $1 to $3 charge, a credit card or PayPal account is needed.   This brings up a whole other issue:  privacy.  Do you know who your kids are giving your credit card number to in order to buy these “Likes” and followers?  What about the actual followers?  They need to be able to see everything posted in order to “Like” things on your children’s pages.  Strangers will know where your children live, what they look like, what schools they go to.  These strangers will see posts saying that the family will be away on vacation or pictures of your kids at the beach.  They will be able to see those slumber party videos posted to Facebook, which include other parents’ kids.  How will those other parents feel knowing that strangers are watching what should be private videos? 

 

Parents need to teach their kids that social media isn’t something to get stressed out about, or depressed over.  It wasn’t intended to stress over; it was intended as a way to express our thoughts and keep in touch with friends and family.  I doubt very much the intention was to make teenagers feel bad about themselves because only 3 people “Liked” their profile picture. 

 

The minimum age for social media is 13 years old.  Some kids are mature enough at 13 to realize that what happens on social media really isn’t what’s important.  For others, it’s a place that means everything.  Parents need to teach their kids that while it’s good to be creative on Tumblr and Instagram and share views on Facebook and Twitter, it should not be the defining factor in a teenager’s life.  Each parent knows their own child best to determine whether or not social media is right for that child. 

 

In order to keep your privacy safe, parents must teach their kids not to give out personal information over the Internet.  Another way to stay safe is to surf the Internet anonymously with a proxy server.  Please take advantage of our FREE trial offer and see how changing your IP Address and encrypting every connection will make you feel safer knowing that you can’t be found.

Do You Regret Some Social Media Posts?

Every day, all over the world, people are signing on to the Internet and their social media accounts.  Facebook alone has millions of users worldwide who keep in touch with family and friends.  Then, there are those who use LinkedIn to keep up with business contacts or create new ones and still others who aren’t happy unless they check their Twitter accounts several times a day.  Do you have photos or videos you want the world to see?  No problem!  For that, there are Instagram and YouTube.  Social media is so important in our lives that most people have accounts with all of these giants.  Love it or hate it, it seems that social media is here to stay.  

In the early years of the Internet, in order to surf the web, you needed to be either home or in your office sitting in front of your computer.  Today, everywhere you look, people are on the Internet.  There are so many gadgets available with Internet access that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn are available at the touch of an icon.  With your smartphone, tablet or iPod, the Internet is at your fingertips no matter where you are.  Because of this easy access, many people will hit that “Send” button without really thinking things through. 

Work can be stressful and your commute home is often the first time you had all day to just sit and relax.  As the bus brings you closer to home, you pick up your smartphone and post a rant on Facebook about your incompetent co-workers, your idiotic boss and how all the work falls on you or it would never get done.  As soon as you hit “Send”, you feel as if a weight has lifted off your shoulders.  You spend the rest of your commute either reading or catching a quick nap and in no time, your Facebook rant is forgotten.  Well, it’s forgotten until the next morning when you walk into the office and are greeted with angry stares and your boss is waiting for you at your desk with your final paycheck and your personal items packed away.  You don’t understand what’s happening and then you remember your rant.  You also remember that all of your co-workers and your boss are your Facebook friends. 

 

Another common mistake is recording a friends’ night out.  All through the night, martini after martini, you and your friends are snapping pictures with your smartphones and posting them to Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts.  At the end of the night, you and your friends decide that it would be “fun” to make use of the stripper pole on the stage to show your most seductive moves.  As each of you has a turn, the others are making videos and posting them to YouTube.  You and a few million others will see it the next day.  If it goes viral, maybe you’ll even see yourself on the news in a week or so. 

 

Then there are those who feel the need to update their relationship status each time they get a new girlfriend or boyfriend.  I don’t know why there is a need to let the world know that “Joanie is in a relationship with Chachi”, but, it gets posted and stays on the couple’s Facebook Timelines long after they break up.  Imagine all the relationship statuses there can be until you find Mr./Ms. Right. 

There used to be a time when drunk-dialing had to wait until you were home; today, you can drunk-dial your ex as you’re sitting at the bar!  But it doesn’t end at drunk-dialing; there is now drunk-Tweeting and drunk-Facebooking.  It’s so convenient to have this technology, but what happens when you realize that you blasted your co-worker, your boss or your significant other on Facebook or Twitter? 

Yes, social media at your fingertips turns normally reasonable people into unreasonable people.  No one seems to consider that Facebook updates and tweets in real time could be dangerous.  Letting the world know where you are every second allows you to be found by anyone.  It also lets thieves know that you aren’t home and the time to strike is now.  So, the question is:  Do you regret some of your social media posts?

Privacy is one of our most valuable commodities.  So many things can compromise our privacy, so don’t let social media be yet another risk.  Before you post anything, step back and ask yourself the following questions:

1.   How will this be viewed by my employer, prospective employer or university? 

2.   In the future, will this post embarrass me?

3.   Would I be embarrassed if my parents or children saw this?

4.   Can I lose my job if my boss sees this post?

Immediately delete the comment, video or photo if you answered “yes” to these questions.

All of us would like to keep our privacy safe.  At the top of this page there is a free download of our Privacy Guide.  Please take us up on this offer.  You will see many suggestions on how you can keep your private life private.