rattler $ the
A St. Mary’s Student Publication since 1925
•
Vol. 98 Issue 2
•
September 29, 2010 •
Find out where to get student discounts. pg. 8
STMURATTLERNEWS.COM
how SAFE is it? Oversharing personal information through social websites can lure in unwanted attention.
By Denice Hernandez Managing Editor In a world where sharing the most intimate details of one’s life via tweet or Facebook status update has become conventional human behavior, many do not realize the potential dangers that can arise from sharing too much information. Privacy settings might be able to keep some information hidden, but that does not always ensure safety. Something as simple as posting status updates or photos about newly purchased items can invite theft, said Armando Abney, associate professor and chair of the criminology department. “You are basically advertising what you have,” he said. “Criminals take note and are looking for easy targets.” Criminals are always looking for ways to take advantage of new technologies, said Abney, and students should never “broadcast” their personal information on social networking sites. Most Smartphones also embed the GPS coordinates of where a photo was taken into the actual photo, said Louisa Martin, executive director for technology resource management and planning. In other words, people should be cautious and disable geo-locations to avoid revealing their location. Facebook applications like “Places,” which allows users to let others know their exact location at
inside
any given time, could also give criminals, or stalkers, another resource to find a target. Martin said too many personal or easily identifiable details can make someone a target for identity theft, harassment or property crime. “I think that there are people out there who may look at this feature and think that it is nice to use so that people know where you are, but at the same time, they know where you are not,” said junior history major Kari Gords. “To me, it is like an invitation for someone to go rob your house while they know you are at the library or the store.” The average Facebook user has more than 100 friends, and with more than 500 million users, it is more than just friends browsing through social sites wanting to learn more, according to facebook.com/press . “You never know who is out there watching; you can monitor Facebook users from left to right: David Clark, Katie Beth, John Villalobos, Hector Mars, Andrea Riojas, Maria your privacy and what you share Smit, Marco Bass and Michael Rodriguez. Photos by Analicia Perez but there are people out there who can hack around it and read every- nerable,” Lehman-Meyer said. appropriate to post,” she said. have to use common sense.” thing,” Gords said. “Many people “You do not realize it because it is “Personal information about their After all, using sites like Facehave friends on Facebook that they part of your everyday life and you lives, or concerning other people, book can be an amazing tool when either barely know or do not know are used to telling everyone what would seem inappropriate.” used sensibly, according to Lehmat all. You never know who could you are up to, but it is all about The less information, the better, an-Meyer. be stalking your page or monitor- how you approach it.” “There is much to be learned seems to be the best approach. ing what you say.” “There are a lot of other social about social media, there are not Freshman psychology major The main thing, though, is Lucuro Alvarez said she posts norms that we know can also get any clear cut rules yet, but there controlling what you put out about two Facebook statuses and us into trouble if we aren’t careful,” certainly are guidelines,” she said. there, said Katherine Lehman- four tweets a day, but she only Lehman-Meyer said. “Drinking “If you are conservative, you canMeyer, director of the Academic likes to share things about her day, is an example, and it is the same not go wrong.” Media Center. thing with social media. There are not about personal matters. “Your information is very vul“Vague information would be some things we just do not do; we
FEATURES
NEWS
3
ENTERTAINMENT
10
SPORTS
12
14