Are Facebook, Bebo, Myspace sites safe?
The sites that are used the most by young people are social interaction sites. Sites which allow them to upload photos, describe themselves, and communicate with friends. But by using them, are you giving out personal information that could put your life at risk? Surely not!
Taking things at face value
For young people, who use the internet frequently, everything is took at face value, so if a person on a website includes a photograph, and a basic description, it’s very easy to believe that the photograph is that person. The simplicity of how a fake social profile can be set up is astonishing. A ten-second search on the internet for faces will bring up over 20 million results from which to choose a face, and to use a fake name, and details is a few minutes. So there you have a fake profile with a person could lure other people in with, in under five minutes.
The main problem comes with a young person’s lack of questioning. Is this person real, why are they telling me this information, could they be fake, why are they contacting me, and so on. Very rarely would a real young person just contact another for no reason.
It would be a reasonable assumption that perhaps one-third of profiles on social websites are not who they say they are, putting people who friend them, or exchange details with them at risk.
Public Information
The amount of information that is released to the public by a person who uses these social websites is also frightening. For example, a photo, name, nick name, age, interests, details of where they like going, the school they attend, and photos of their friends all make the life of a potential paedophile / stalker that much easier – without them ever having to exchange contact with their ‘target’. There have been legal cases of people trying to extort money from a person by gleaning information from these sites, for example, a woman in Thailand claimed that an English man fathered her baby after he announced that he went to Thailand, and she wanted payment. The case was later dropped after holes in her knowledge of him appeared.
Thinking Ahead
Most profiles are abandoned once a person grows out of using their account. This means that the information is still there, with photos, details of what they did as young people, and quite possibly a hint of what they intend to do for the future.
Employers are able to search for this information, and can legally use it to aid their decision to employ that person, as well as anyone who wishes to ‘dig up dirt’ on a particular person for blackmailing or extorting you out of money.
Summary
So, there you have it. These sites do pose a risk, no matter how 'safe' and precautious you think you are. The simple way to avoid putting youself at risk like this is to simply avoid using the sites. If you do have an account, close it down to avoid further risk.