Posting information about yourself on your social network can be fun and exciting and help you stay in touch with the ones you love. However, posting all that information could lead to some dangerous situations. Andrews (in chapter one) relays several different ways in which criminals have used Facebook to plan and commit crimes based on what others have posted on their Facebook page. Some criminals peruse Facebook to see which users have "Vacation" listed as their status making them easy targets for a robbery. One hostage taker even had the audacity to broadcast is crime while in progress using Facebook postings to communicate with friends who where watching the scene play out from across the street. One "friend" of the hostage taker even warned him that the Swat team was hiding behind a bush just outside his window.
Criminals are not the only ones who are using what you post on Facebook for purposes that you may not be aware of. There is definitely a sense that what you post on Facebook should be private and only to been seen by those you want to see it. However, that is not always the case. Police units have been known to use what they see on someone's Facebook page against them. Unlike searching your home, where police need a warrant, there is nothing that says police can not view a page, see some criminal activity and use that against the Facebook poster. In one case (chapter one), police saw photos of underage students with red plastic cups in hand indicating underage drinking and used those photos to prosecute the parents of the house for providing alcohol to minors. The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services recommends to its' field workers to "befriend" their clients on Facebook so they can monitor their relationships and determine if a couple may be trying to mislead them about their relationship.
There are probably hundreds of different cases where things that were posted on Facebook and other networks, that were thought to be private, have led to unintended consequences. One teacher was fired because a friend tagged her in a photo with her holding two glasses of alcohol. (Click here for other examples) The point is this. Facebook and other social networks are great ways to develop social relationships with others like you. However, there are many kinks about this new media that still need to be worked out. There is not one definitive set of rules guiding everyone about the uses and abuses of Facebook. As we have seen, even law enforcement has been known to use tactics that seem to "conflict with traditional due process rights and the principle that citizens should be free from constant scrutiny." (chapter one) Until a more definitive set of rules and guidelines can be developed governing the use of these social networks, users including teachers, parents and students alike need to be aware that what they are posting on Facebook is not as private as one might think. Andrews warns that unless peoples' rights are protected, (she argues for a Social Network Constitution) these social networks may lead us to just the opposite of what they were intended to do which is to expand people's behaviors and opportunities. Until then, it will be up to the individual user to determine what they are comfortable posting of social networks. Be sure to read all the fine print!
For all the reasons you've stated, I have chosen not to use my Facebook account. I had to set an account up to view my family's lives and antics, as they all post there. The concept of expanding behaviors and opportunities to network makes so much sense, but without that Social Network Constitution, an individual takes a huge risk. I suppose once Facebook can no longer impact my employment, I might be willing to proceed.
ReplyDeleteCurrent laws pretty much state that if you put your information out there, it no longer belongs to your right to privacy. Yes, scary indeed.