Entries Tagged 'CyberBullying' ↓
September 14th, 2011 | CyberBullying, Facebook, Internet Safety, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Quick Hits, Research | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, an A-List starlet becomes the victim of an embarrassing cell phone hack, an Internet troll is given a jail sentence for mocking dead teens online, and FOSI has some uplifting information on teens and online safety.
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TMZ reports that A-List actress Scarlett Johansson is seeking assistance from the FBI to help track down the individual responsible for hacking into her cell phone and posting self-taken nude photos online. Johansson isn’t the first celebrity to have nude photos wind up online. Actresses Vanessa Hudgens and Jessica Alba also have been the victims of hackers seeking out illicit images.
A new survey from the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) found that 96% of parents have had a conversation with their kids about what they should and should not do online. The survey also revealed that 93% of parents set rules about Internet use. These findings suggest that more parents are becoming aware of the importance of online safety issues and taking smart, proactive steps to protect their kids online.
Facebook representatives are scheduled to appear before a congressional hearing today on the subject of children’s online safety. According to CBS News, “The appearance by Facebook officials follows one last week by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, who also met with members of Congress about privacy issues.” At issue is how websites track information about Internet users while they browse the Web. Several members of Congress believe that there should be laws in place to prevent Web companies from collecting data on children. Web companies have disagreed with this stance, arguing that legislation will be too unwieldy.
Yesterday, Facebook announced a new privacy feature that is similar in function to Google+’s “Social Circles” feature. According to the Washington Post, “the optional features include smart lists, which automatically group a users’ friends into work, school, family and location-based groups, which can be edited by the user.” Facebook’s recent push to offer more privacy controls comes on the heels of Google’s launch of Google+, which was widely praised for its intuitive privacy settings.
In the U.K., a 25-year-old man has been jailed for 18 weeks after he was arrested for sending mocking messages to the families of two dead teenagers online. The man, who did not know the victims and lived alone, pleaded guilty to two counts of sending malicious communications. In his ruling, the judge stated that the offenses were so serious that “only a custodial sentence could be justified.” As part of the sentence, the man must also refrain from using social networking websites for five years and inform police when he acquires a new computer or web-enabled phone.
September 2nd, 2011 | CyberBullying, Facebook, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Quick Hits, Research | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about a new anti-bullying campaign, why celebrities should change their online passwords, the fine line politicians walk on Twitter, and how healthcare professionals are usually responsible for health information breaches.
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Popular teen singer Cody Simpson is putting his influence and massive online following to good use as the leader of a new anti-bullying initiative called Defeat the Label. Simpson joins numerous other celebrities in the campaign, which seeks to put a stop to bullying among kids and teens. Bullying, particularly online bullying, has become a severe problem for the nation’s youth, represented tragically by the high-profile suicides of numerous teens such as Phoebe Prince.
A spin-off group of the hacker collective Anonymous has its sights set on Hollywood and has already scored some high-profile hacks. According to PCWorld, the group has posted celebrity phone numbers, a film script for a movie currently in production, and even nude photos of the female rapper Kreayshawn. The group’s motives don’t seem to extend much beyond a desire to embarrass celebrities and bask in the subsequent media attention.
A UK politician has apologized after calling a constituent the “village idiot” on Twitter following a debate about the National Health Service (NHS). The incident demonstrates the fine line public figures, particularly politicians, walk between engaging in discourse online and saying something that can damage their online reputations.
According to the 2011 Survey of Patient Privacy Breaches from Veriphyr, “more than 70 percent of organizations surveyed were targets of one or more breaches of PHI within the last 12 months. And, insiders were responsible for the majority of breaches, with 35 percent taking an unauthorized look at medical data of fellow employees and 27 percent peeking at records of friends and relatives.”
August 23rd, 2011 | CyberBullying, Facebook, Google, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Parenting, Privacy, Quick Hits, Twitter | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about “Cyber Shame,” one photographer’s stand against cyberbullying, and the White House’s consumer privacy protection plans.
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“More than a third of young people admit to feeling ‘cyber shame’ after posting embarrassing photos or posts online while drunk” according to a survey commissioned by the alcohol education charity Drinkaware. In addition to the physical dangers of excessive drinking, Chris Sorek, CEO of Drinkaware, notes that there are also reputation consequences to posting drunk photos online. Sorek explains that living in the digital world “means that people who have been drinking to excess can have their actions come back to haunt them online,” particularly when it comes to getting a new job and other important life transactions.
A Pennsylvania photographer has become an unlikely spokesperson in the country’s growing crusade against bullying after she refused to photograph several high school girls whom she observed on a Facebook page bullying other students. In a note on Facebook, Jennifer McKendrick wrote that she didn’t want to make people who were ugly on the inside look beautiful on the outside. Since making her stand, McKendrick has received broad support from anti-bullying advocates across the country.
The Sydney Morning Herald writes, “consumers are increasingly turning to Twitter and Facebook to vent their frustrations at having their complaints ignored as online activism becomes a powerful tool forcing businesses to fix unresolved issues.” Citing several examples where online activism has forced company’s to change their operating procedures, the Herald article highlights an important new reality for businesses of all sizes. In a world where customers can talk directly to brands, it’s important that brands listen and talk back.
In an article for InformationWeek, Thomas Claburn argues that Google’s real name policy for its new social network Google+ is a mistake, offering five reasons why it hurts users. Claburn’s argument echos other complaints from tech writers who view Google’s name policy as a mistake and argue that it stifles open discourse online.
Danny Weitzner, associate administrator at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently outlined the White House’s plans for improving consumer privacy without stifling innovation in the economy. During comments at a Technology Policy Institute conference, Weitzner said, “You can have stronger privacy law, clearer rules, clearer principles established in law, without the costs and downsides of a traditional regulatory structure.” How privacy rules would be regulated without a traditional regulatory structure remains to be seen, but the notion of a broad “Privacy Bill of Rights” still seems to be popular in Washington, D.C.
July 22nd, 2011 | CyberBullying, Facebook, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Quick Hits | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we share three disturbing tales of cyberstalking and online harassment, as well as some more coverage of the social media background check company Social Intelligence.
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Quoting the AP, “a 23-year-old man who trolled women’s Facebook pages searching for clues that allowed him to take over their email accounts and then made nude pictures of them public is expected to be sentenced in Sacramento.” The man, who has already pled guilty, could face as much as six years in prison for his actions. His defense attorneys are arguing that he didn’t fully understand the ramifications of his actions and should get probation instead.
A Florida man is currently on trial for breaking into the e-mail accounts of 500 different women, and then posting nude photos of at least 19 of them to Facebook and multiple pornographic websites. The hacker has reached a plea deal, but may still face significant jail time. Each of the charges he faces carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison
Proving that gross privacy violations don’t only happen in America, a man in South Africa has been arrested for posting fake nude photos of his ex-grilfriend on Facebook. The man used naked pictures of another woman and superimposed his ex-girlfriend’s face onto them. He also posted the images to a real estate listing website, where his ex-girlfriend, who is a real estate agent, advertised her homes.
The Sydney Morning Herald today republished an article from the New York Times on the new social media background check company Social Intelligence. The article talks about how Social Intelligence works, the kinds of negative online content that could keep an individual from getting a job, and includes insight on the privacy ramifications of the service from Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).
July 14th, 2011 | CyberBullying, Facebook, Google, Legal Issues, Online Reputation Management, Parenting, Privacy, Quick Hits | Rob Frappier
In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Google+ privacy settings, share a case of cyberbullying, and ponder the role that Facebook plays in divorce.
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Google’s new social networking project, Google+, is still in beta mode, but it’s growing fast. And along with the site’s growth have come expectations for simple privacy controls. Yesterday, in response to user concerns, Google implemented more comprehensive privacy controls for all Google+ users. The controls, which are still somewhat difficult to use, allow users to conceal their profile so that only their name and picture are visible. This article from ComputerWorld discusses how to use the new privacy controls.
In a case that shows the consequences of cyberbullying for both bullies and victims, a 12-year-old Washington girl has been given probation for cyberstalking, following an incident in which she accessed a classmate’s Facebook account and posted sexually explicit images and language to the victim’s page. According to MSNBC, the bully “not only posted explicit photos, but sent out solicitations for sex,” and, despite the victim’s attempts to delete the inappropriate content, it has “been copied and reposted elsewhere and everywhere.”
This article from research scientist Sheril Kirshenbaum discusses the ways in which Facebook and similar social networking technology has contributed to extra-marital affairs and divorce among the baby boomer generation. Describing how the sudden reappearance of a lost love via Facebook can trigger the release of certain brain chemicals, Kirshenbaum writes, “But now the ghosts of romance past are alive and well online, popping up on chat services and sending greetings on Facebook. In the 21st century, old friends are virtually at our fingertips, and a seemingly harmless email sent to someone with the innocent intention of ‘catching up’ can quickly go further.”
A true sign of the times, 1 in 10 household pets in the UK has a Facebook profile according to new research. The data, commissioned by (no joke) a pet insurance company, reveals not only the Brits’ fondness for animals, but also an extremely high level of awareness and comfort with social networking technology. If we’ve reached the point where we’re creating social networking profiles for our pets, we can surely say that social media is here to stay.
Child identity theft is on the rise, which is a major concern for regulators who hope to protect kids from long-lasting reputation and privacy damage. According to veteran consumer advocate and Reuters reporter Mitch Lipka, “a study found children’s identities are stolen at more than 50 times the rate of adults.” Because children don’t have credit, it is easy for thieves to rack up fraudulent activity without fear of it being discovered in a routine credit report. In order to help prevent child ID theft, parents should take proactive steps to limit where their child’s information appears online and also strictly limit who they provide it to you in personal transactions.
