Social media sites like Facebook have become a ubiquitous presence in the lives of young people and many parents may worry that their children are giving away too much information.
However, technology experts say there is little substantial risk in the online personas being tailored by image-savvy teenagers who post pictures and details of their social lives. On the other hand, the longevity of online material can have a long-term impact on the lives of young people.
“From the perspective of youth, the main concern is overexposure or embarrassment, which is to say that people are concerned that what they post online will be seen by unintended audiences,” said Matthew Johnson, director of education at the Media Awareness Network, a non-profit organization that promotes digital literacy among Canadians.
Often, this unintended audience includes parents and authority figures, but the content can also be distributed to a wider audience for malicious reasons.
Read Full Article from CBC News
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
HIV-positive man charged in 2nd assault on women met through online dating
A 56-year-old, HIV+ man charged with two sexual assaults on women he met through online dating. One was a teenage girl that met when he picked her up at summer camp. Both were unaware of his HIV status and investigators believe there may be others that also engaged in unprotected sex with him.
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Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Where will your picture turn up?
Students at Big Bear High School in California were recently threatened with charges of possession of child pornography after an inappropriate picture was found to be printed in the school’s yearbook. The photo, showing a 17-year old male and 15-year old female, both students, engaged in sexual behavior at a school function. They were not the focus of the photo but in the back ground. Once the content was discovered the school recalled the yearbook. The case has been turned over to the district attorney’s office and the 17-year old student may be charged with a sex crime.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Photo Scandal: Congressman Anthony Weiner won't confirm if tweeted pic is of him or not
UPDATE: Anthony Weiner resigned from Congress, ending a three-week scandal over his online behavior. Read full NY Times Story
Friday, April 22, 2011
Dating site Match.com says it will begin screening its users against sex offender registry
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Google making app that would identify people's faces
Just as Google has crawled trillions of Web pages to deliver results for traditional search queries, the system could be programmed to associate pictures publicly available on Facebook, Flickr and other photo-sharing sites with a person's name
Read full CNN article
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Man accused of raping women he met on online dating site
Joseph Raymond Garcia, 51, allegedly met two of his victims on, an online dating site that bills itself as “the first, largest and most effective site in the world to connect with, date and marry successful, beautiful people.”
According to the Orange County district attorney’s office, Garcia allegedly created a personal profile in which he claimed to make more than $200,000 a year and described himself as “sophisticated, charming” and “strikingly handsome.”
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Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Dating Sites: Watch out for scam artists, felons and sex offenders...
When you post and share your photos and personal information you do not really know who you are communicating with or what their intention is.
Safety experts say popular dating sites can be a digital mine field, filled with danger from scam artists, felons and even sex offenders.
Are background checks the answer? Dating sites say no, we say just be more selective about who you share your secrets (and photos) with.
Read the story
Safety experts say popular dating sites can be a digital mine field, filled with danger from scam artists, felons and even sex offenders.
Are background checks the answer? Dating sites say no, we say just be more selective about who you share your secrets (and photos) with.
Read the story