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.

Is Your Smart TV Spying on You?

New York State Senator Chuck Schumer recently issued a warning to all smart TV owners:  If your TV is equipped with a camera and can connect to the Internet, it could be used to spy on you.  Yes, your smart TV is capable of allowing a hacker to steal your credit card information, or worse, your identity.  Not only that, but a hacker can remote-access your TV’s camera and watch everything you do in the room that the smart TV is in.  To make matters worse, these TVs don’t have much in the way of security settings. 

Researchers Aaron Grattafiori and Josh Yavor were at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, Nevada recently and showed how a smart TV can be hacked.  During the demonstration, they were able to control social media and any other application installed on the TV, they accessed files and even turned on the camera.  If they were able to do this, anyone else can do it too.  It’s like giving up your remote control to a hacker.

Mr. Grattafiori spoke with Mashable regarding this issue (Your Smart TV Can Be Hacked to Spy on You).  He said, “Because the TV only has a single user, any type of compromise into an application or into Smart Hub, which is the operating system – the smarts of the TV – has the same permission as every user, which is, you can do everything and anything.”

Grattafiori and Yavor, who work for iSEC Partners, a security firm, began looking into the issues with smart TVs in December of 2012.  They notified Samsung about this security breach in January 2013.  Samsung issued a statement to CNN shortly after claiming that “patches” have been issued to plug up the holes in security (Your TV Might be Watching You), which now makes it difficult for hackers to break into your smart TV.

Who is Following You When You Shop?

By now, we all know that when we shop over the Internet, we’re being tracked.  But, did you know that when you shop in the stores, you’re also being tracked?  Each time we enter a store, whether it’s a department store or a grocery store, we see security cameras positioned in just about every aisle.  These cameras, however, are not doing the tracking.  Customers are being tracked through their cell phones. 

According to the New York Times, last fall, Nordstrom began using Wi-Fi signals from customers’ cell phones to track their movements (Attention Shoppers:  Stores are Tracking Your Cell).  A sign was posted advising customers of the tracking and many shoppers were not happy about it.  Tara Darrow, a Nordstrom spokesperson said, “We did hear some complaints” and because of this, the tracking was stopped in May 2013.  Other stores testing this type of tracking include Family Dollar, Cabela’s and Mothercare. 

 

This tracking can tell a lot about a customer.  The cell phone signals used with the security cameras will tell the retailer exactly who is shopping.  They know how long each shopper spends in any aisle, how long they look at something before they actually purchase it and even the gender of the shopper.  Somehow, many shoppers find this tracking much more invasive than being tracked on-line with cookies.  They consider this more of an invasion of privacy because with on-line tracking, you are still fairly anonymous in the sense that cookies can’t see you.

Gun Owners have the Right to Privacy, Too

Using the Freedom of Information Act, the Journal News, the leading newspaper in Westchester County, NY, requested the records for pistol permits issued in the state.  The information they received showed that there were about 44,000 registered gun owners in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties.  Once the information was obtained, the newspaper published the names and addresses of every one of them.  As if this weren’t enough of an invasion of privacy, along with the list was an image using Google Maps, that had each gun owner’s address pinpointed.  

New York State Senator Greg Ball was extremely frustrated and angry over this publication.  He stated, “It’s just absolutely ridiculous that the Journal News would do that and they’ve done a lot of boneheaded things in the past.”   He went on to say that he thought the act of publishing this list would give criminals a “map” to go door to door trying to get those weapons. 

Senator Ball is planning on reintroducing legislation that would make the publication of this kind of information illegal.  He said, “This isn’t only about the second amendment, this is about privacy and it’s actually boneheaded for this editorial board to take law abiding firearm owners and treat them no less than a level 3 sexual predator.”

A television news crew was sent to one of the neighborhoods that had a large amount of “red dots”.  When they knocked on doors, many people either did not answer or refused to speak, but some did express surprise and concern that there were so many guns in their neighborhood.

How is the NSA Putting Your Privacy at Risk?

Within the last couple of weeks, 29 year old Edward Snowden has become famous.  He’s not an actor, or singer, or author; his “fame” came from telling the world that everyone’s privacy is at risk because the NSA (National Security Agency) has been spying on Americans for years.  It’s the job of the NSA to keep the United States safe from terrorism.  Everyone knew without it being spoken that spying was involved, but most people were surprised at the extent of this spying.  It’s expected that terrorist groups or people with ties to known terrorists were probably targets, but no one thought that the private e-mails and telephone conversations of Joe Public would be compromised.

Anyone can be a target of the NSA.  E-mails are flagged by certain keywords that are considered “terroristic” in nature, like “bomb”, “gun”, “shooting”, etc.  Unfortunately, some of these words are used in conversation that has nothing to do with terrorism, however, an e-mail to “Aunt Sally” that talks about someone “shooting a video” near your home could lead to suspicion.  Not only that, but Aunt Sally will probably be checked out as part of your “conspiracy”.

Is there really a threat to our security or are we all simply paranoid?  According to the NSA, there have been more than 50 terrorist threats that have been discovered and blocked (one of which was targeting the New York Stock Exchange) since the spying program was started after September 11, 2001.  Knowing that these threats have been discovered and blocked, do you now feel better that the government is taking away some of your privacy?  Will you re-think some of the wording that you use in your e-mails so they won’t be targeted?  Telling a friend you went to the movies and you thought the latest hit was really a “bomb” could be re-phrased, but should we really have to think so hard about our choice of words?   Then consider your phone conversations; do you ever vent about your frustration with some politicians?  One red flag and all of your phone records will be reviewed.

The Invasion of “Cyber-Bullies”

Bullies have been around for decades.  Before the Internet, bullying was limited to the school yard or neighborhoods.   The victim was confronted by the bully and a group of his or her friends and taunted.  A lot of times, after the last school bell rang, the taunting became physical and the victim was beaten up.  The reasons for the bullying were varied.  Maybe the victim was from a poor family and couldn’t afford all the newest clothes.  It could have been because a child wore glasses, or braces, or had freckles.  It could even have been because the teacher singled out one child to always help pass out test papers or to answer questions in class.  Whatever the so-called reason was, bullies were an ever-present threat to the happy childhood of many kids.  Today is no different except that in this age of technology, most of the bullying happens over the Internet.  Welcome to the age of the cyber-bully.

Bullying is no longer confined to the school yard or the neighborhoods.  Now, a cyber-bully can hide behind a computer and remain nameless and faceless.  The attacks no longer happen just at school; they are carried out over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  Since most kids today have cell phones that also take really good pictures, it’s easy for one to snap an unflattering picture of a classmate and send it over the Internet for all to see.  Captions are added to make the pictures even more humiliating.  In the movie “Mean Girls”, the group of “cool girls” had a “burn book” with photos and comments about those they hated.  Today, that “burn book” is a Facebook page made for the sole purpose of hurting others.

During the last few weeks, I have seen quite a few stories on the news about kids, some as young as 10, killing themselves because they were cyber-bullied.  Why?  Because some nameless, faceless cowards started rumors about them online, or posted pictures of them that they were embarrassed by.  And, yes, these cyber-bullies are cowards.  They don’t have the nerve to say something face to face, but behind a computer screen, they’re brave.  A very unnerving facet of all this is that the cyber-bully could be the victims best friend in real life; the friend that he or she confides in and who pretends to give support. 

   

Parents need to talk to their kids about this issue.  Kids need to understand that what happens online is unimportant.  What’s important is real life.  Those who know you know what is true and what is false.  The kids also need to know that they have to confide in a parent or teacher if they find themselves in a cyber-bullying situation.  How many lives could have been saved if these kids knew they could talk to someone about what they were going through?  The schools need to be made aware of any instances of cyber-bullying.  In some cases, the police should get involved.  If things get out of hand, the police will be able to track down a cyber-bully.

Above all, the victims of cyber-bullying need to know that suicide is never the answer.  It may seem like all is hopeless, but it’s not.  Dear Abby once said that suicide is “a permanent solution to a temporary problem”.  This is so true.  Parents should monitor their kids’ social media pages.  They can’t let this go on until it’s too late.  Let your kids know not to give a cyber-bully the power to control their lives.  Cyber-bullies and real life bullies truly are just cowards who act tough to appear brave.  The only way to stop them is to take a stand and show them that their words can’t hurt you.  Hold your head up high and don’t listen to the whispered comments or read their hate on social media.  If everyone took a stand against these bullies, they would continue to move on to the next victim and the next until they realize that no one cares what they have to say.  It’s up to the parents to teach their kids the art of ignoring.

We all want our kids to be safe.  Please take a few minutes to download the free Privacy Guide located at the top of this page.  It will give suggestions and tips on how to stay safe in many online and off line situations.

Your Old E-Mail Can be Read Without a Warrant

What do you do with your old e-mails?  Do you just let them sit in the “Read Mail” folder, or do you permanently delete them?  If you let them sit until they automatically disappear from the “Read Mail” folder, you may have a problem. 

If you have e-mail that is over 180 days old stored in a cloud server, it is considered “legally abandoned” and can be read by any government agency without obtaining a warrant.  This means that if you use Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, AOL Mail, G-Mail, etc, your privacy could be at risk.  If you store your e-mail on your hard drive, however, a search warrant is needed no matter how old the mail is.

The law that permits the release of e-mail without a warrant is the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which is from 1986.  In 1986, most people who used e-mail would delete it immediately after reading it to save on computer storage space.  There was very little chance that your average citizen would have an e-mail in storage that was 180 days old. Today, however, with the use of cloud servers, storage space is just about unlimited.  E-mails are read, then left forgotten in the “Read Mail” files.  Unfortunately, the laws haven’t been updated to keep up with the rapidly growing technology.

Recently, the ACLU requested information from the IRS under the Freedom of Information Act.  In response, the IRS indicated that their criminal investigation department does read citizens’ e-mails without obtaining search warrants.  This is one of the reasons why an update of the ECPA is needed in order to protect the privacy of all US citizens when it involves any digital communications.

The ACLU also sent a request under the Freedom of Information Act to the FBI.  The response indicated warrants aren’t generally gotten, but the FBI wouldn’t come out and say for sure.  As a way of explanation, the FBI provided the ACLU with excerpts from two of its Domestic Investigations and Operations Guides; one from 2008 and one from 2012.  Both state that “FBI agents only need a warrant for emails or other electronic communication that are unopened and less than 180 days old.”  

Obviously, the time for modification of the ECPA is well over-due.  Since 1877, any government agency was required to obtain a warrant to read any personal mail sent via the US Postal Service.  Now is the time for this policy to be expanded to include e-mail and any other electronic communications.  In the meantime, if you want to keep your privacy, make sure you use the “Delete Permanently” button provided each time you read your e-mail.  For most of us, this isn’t a matter of covering up criminal activity; it’s to protect our privacy.

 Please go to the top of this page and download the free Internet Privacy Guide.  There are many other tips and suggestions on how your privacy can remain safe both on-line and off.