Surf smart to avoid getting caught up in online dangers
Dr. Kardasz: Great article by Kevin Joy of the Columbus Dispatch
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01/31/07, by Kevin Joy, The Columbus Dispatch
Marissa never shared her password. But last month, she started getting suspicious messages over her AOL Instant Messenger account. "This one girl asked me, ‘How old are you?’ " said Marissa, 14. "She was giving me all of her information; she was in her 20s . . . asking me all these weird questions. Then I had other strange people IMing me, using cuss words. I was really scared."
Marissa’s not sure how it happened, but someone had accessed her IM account and used it to have an online chat with someone else, later posting the typed back-andforth dialogue on a popular public Web site. In turn, people who wouldn’t normally know Marissa’s screen name saw it, using the information to contact her. A quick change of her AOL screen name and password remedied the problem, but it didn’t make the incident any less uncomfortable. And it reflects a scary new reality for kids such as Marissa and their parents: When using a computer, safety must be a priority.
Digital dangers
As the digital world grows larger — and cell phones, e-mail, instant messaging and social-networking sites help people connect globally — dangers can lurk in the shadows, especially when communicating online.
"You don’t really know who’s behind that other keyboard," said Kent Smith, a project coordinator for the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, or ICAC.
"The same thing you learned about strangers in the real world is how you should approach the Internet."
Nearly everyone has heard the same safety warnings since childhood — don’t talk to, accept gifts from, or go anywhere with a stranger.
When surfing the Web, however, many young people don’t always follow those rules. "I don’t know anyone my age who takes the warnings people give seriously," said Sarah, 14. "That’s not what you’re thinking about when you go online." The faceless nature of the Internet can make it tricky terrain. People aren’t always who they claim to be. An online contact could live in another state, be a different age or even the opposite gender than his or her profile indicates. "When you’re not speaking with someone face to face, it’s much easier to be somebody you’re not," said detective Evan Pridham, a task-force agent for the FBI’s cyber-crimes unit. "Not everybody out there is a good person." Maybe that sounds like common sense, and you would never talk to strangers online. It doesn’t mean you’re safe.
Take MySpace, for example, the hugely popular social-networking Web site that allows people to post their own profiles with photos, music, blog entries and, perhaps more dangerous, personal interests and information. The site maintains more than 100 million registered members of various ages. Unless you make your profile page private, all of its details are on display for anyone to see. Letting people know that you like soccer, Beyonce and Pirates of the Caribbean isn’t a problem. But sharing personal information is — a mistake that Internet-safety experts say is a common problem among tweens and teens. Think about it. You wouldn’t walk around advertising your phone number or home address on a T-shirt, would you?
The same goes for posting pictures. A basic headshot is probably OK, but photographs that give hints to where you live or attend school or show you in minimal or indecent clothing can be very dangerous. If you can resist posting a picture, that’s best. "Kids are putting themselves at risk by engaging in behavior that is peer-pressure friendly," said Smith of the ICAC task force. "That’s potentially setting themselves up for folks to take advantage of them."
And don’t think it’s only your classmates who are looking. Students who have posted pictures of themselves engaged in illegal activity, such as drinking alcohol, have been caught by parents and school administrators, according to news reports. "They’re just trying to be funny, but some people put photos online that are really bad," said Kelly, 14, who said she’s seen such pictures of several middle-school classmates that are inappropriate or, at worst, embarrassing.
In general, use caution and think carefully before you post anything in your profile. It takes only a simple right-click-and-save action for someone to copy your information and paste it into his hard drive, whether it is a photo, an instant message or something more private. So it’s important to understand that what you post — even if you delete it later — can resurface, whether in a few months or a few years when you’re applying for college or a job.
"When you put your information on the Internet, it’s there forever," said Lt. Jeff Gaylor of the Westerville Police Department’s Internetcrimes enforcement team. "Whoever grabs that, it belongs to them, and you can’t get it back."
Safety measures
Last year, MySpace gave its users the option of making their profiles "private," meaning full access to someone’s personal page is restricted without the user’s permission. When the site dropped the minimum user age from 16 to 14, its youngest members’ pages were automatically made private from viewers who list their age as older than 18. Users older than 18 can’t list a 14- or 15-yearold as a friend unless they know the teen’s first and last names or e-mail address.
And this month, MySpace announced plans for parent-monitoring software, called Zephyr, that would allow parents to track what name, age and location their child is using in his MySpace profile. But it wouldn’t allow parents to access their child’s actual profile. The user, meanwhile, would be informed that he or she was being monitored.
Still, critics think the safety measures aren’t tough enough. Several lawsuits, including one this month in Dallas, have been filed against MySpace. The Dallas suit involves a 15-year-old girl who was allegedly drugged and raped by an adult she met on the Web site.
Representatives from News Corp., the parent company that purchased MySpace in 2005, declined multiple interview requests to discuss the site’s present and pending security measures. Young kids, meanwhile, continue to flock to the site. "I’m still not 14 years old, and I joined MySpace a couple years ago," said Jacob, 13. "All you have to do is push a button that says you’re 14 or older. You can have a 5-year-old using it."
The site claims to have deleted more than 250,000 profiles of kids who were thought to be younger than 14. Regardless of your age, it’s a good idea to keep your profile private (open to friends only). But that strategy isn’t foolproof, either. "If (a stranger) sweet-talks to you to get on your friends list, all that information is open again," Smith said. Likewise, it’s very easy for a stranger to pretend he is someone else. Don’t respond to messages or friend-request invitations from people you don’t know. "When someone IMs me, and I don’t know them, I ignore them," said Ariel, 15. "That’s happened a few times."
But if a stranger sends disturbing or inappropriate images, asks for your phone number or offers to meet in person, tell a parent or guardian immediately, said Pridham, of the FBI’s cybercrimes unit.
Don’t worry about getting in trouble; it’s more important to address the situation. Keep parents involved. Though it might seem uncool, you should have a discussion with your parents about Internet safety and establish ground rules before the computer is even used — to keep things safe (and avoid arguments later).
Those rules might include where the computer should be located (such as the family room), which way the screen should face (toward public viewing), how many hours a day the computer can be used for leisure and what types of sites are OK to visit.
"I’m allowed to be online for 45 minutes a day, at most, after I finish my homework," said Mia, 14. "My parents are pretty strict about it."
You can do your part, too, to avoid computer conflicts. Keep your parents involved in your online activities. Show them how MySpace, AOL Instant Messenger and online-journal sites such as Xanga and LiveJournal work.
Many experts advise that parents keep a MySpace profile of their own, to keep in contact with their kid’s online activity. It’s also a good idea to talk to your parents about installing filters for your Internet browser. Even if you’re not looking for trouble, it’s easy to stumble across inappropriate Web sites. "I was doing a project and used Google images," said Gebby, 15, who said the search turned up several improper images that were unrelated to his assignment topic. "It can really be something with nothing bad implied, and a lot of bad stuff could come up. It’s awkward."
Be careful
Installing anti-virus programs also is an important step to protecting your computer. Some such programs are free; others can be purchased. But it’s also up to you to look out for suspicious things, such as those flashing pop-up advertisements and junk e-mails (also known as "spam") that might say you’re a prizewinner or ask for your bank account number. Don’t be fooled — forwarding an e-mail chain letter to 20 of your friends won’t bring you good luck. And clicking on the dancing monkey will not win you an iPod.
Jeremy, 12, wasn’t so careful. Last year, he clicked on a pop-up ad that claimed he had won a laptop computer. Jeremy entered his personal information, including a home address, on a site linked to the pop-up. Before Jeremy realized his error, 16 viruses had infected his computer. An expensive repair to the machine’s hard drive followed. But the worst part? "That came out of my allowance," Jeremy said.
It’s also possible to contract a computer virus when using file-sharing sites such as LimeWire and BearShare to download copyright music and videos. Even worse, downloading such content without paying for it is illegal. Government authorities have fined illegal downloaders — including kids — thousands of dollars. Unless a file is specifically marked as free, it’s no different than stealing an album from the store, even though it might not feel that way. It’s a lot to digest in today’s digital world — and dangers are definitely out there.
But using a computer also can be fun and educational. Connecting with friends online can be great, too, as long as you have the tools and skills to surf smart — and safely.
"Frankly, it’s like learning to cross the street for the first time," Smith of the Ohio ICAC said. "You’ve got to learn to do it safely — to watch with your eyes and ears. You look both ways, take a few steps and look again."
kjoy@dispatch.com
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