Posted on 11/21/2011 6:22:36 AM PST by Morgana
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Lisa Gesik hesitates to log into her Facebook account nowadays because of unwanted "friend" requests, not from long-ago classmates but from the ex-husband now in prison for kidnapping her and her daughter.
Neither Gesik nor prison officials can prove her ex-husband is sending her the messages, which feature photos of him wearing his prison blues and dark sunglasses, arms crossed as he poses in front of a prison gate. It doesn't matter if he's sending them or someone else is - the Newport, Ore., woman is afraid and, as the days tick down to his January release, is considering going into hiding with her 12-year-old daughter.
"It's just being victimized all over again," she said.
Across the U.S. and beyond, inmates are using social networks and the growing numbers of smartphones smuggled into prisons and jails to harass their victims or accusers and intimidate witnesses. California corrections officials who monitor social networking sites said they have found many instances in which inmates taunted victims or made unwanted sexual advances.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
If I were in such a situation, you can bet your life I wouldn’t be on one of those sites. I’d be sinking below the radar.
Can someone explain the attraction of these social media sites like Facebook?
I’ve never figured out why anyone would waste their time on a web site that exposes the user to loss of privacy and worse(job loss, loss of reputation, criminals, etc). They are intended as a honey pot to attract and collect information for others. I see nothing positive and lots of potential negatives.
If you don't get it by now, then, no, no one can explain it to you.
The problem with facebook is people give too much information. One does not need to tell everything. Just a name will be fine if trying to find old classmates and such. Some people give phone numbers, hometowns and all. Too much information.
Lazy prison guards not doing their job. Or taking bribes to bring the phones into the prisoners.
Some, like me want to connect with old college buddies or friends from the past. It is a great way to find long lost people.
Others just have no life at all and hang out there for something to do.
Facebook makes it really easy to stay in touch with family and friends, to know what's going on in everybody's lives, school reunions, etc.
That being said, due to security and privacy reasons, I'm closing my facebook account down very soon. I've been talking about Facebook security and privacy issues for a couple of years and trying to convince others not to put too much information out there (including not using their real name) but it's all falling on deaf ears. A lot of people are simply apathetic to their own security and privacy issues.
If you are very careful with your friend requests and only friend people you know very well, Facebook can be a good social tool. Even so, there are certain things you do not want to put online that you are not comfortable with both family and friends knowing about. For example, you might be tempted to post a picture of yourself drunk at a party with a lampshade on your head that your friends will get a kick out of, but your grandmother or your aunt in Iowa might not care for it too much.
Google appears to have a better solution with their social networking (Google Plus). You maintain several groups such as family, friends and co-workers and you can have them in silos where something you post to your friends cannot be seen by family or co-workers.
Facebook is just a small part of the problem. Inmates with facebook access to facebook seems to be correctional direction gone wrong. Who knows who they are stalking and what they are planning and with all the info available on facebook, we are permitting the perverts and crimanals to continue their behavior.
So prisoners are allowed to use computers and access the Internet?
No internet in prison - problem solved.
Obviously there are good reasons, which is why everyone uses it. But like everything that’s meant for good, there is abuse, illegal activity and craziness. But for now I believe the pros outweigh the cons. As someone who is running for office I can tell you it is a fast and free way to get my message out. Actually, it has been invaluable.
uh....get off of facebook!!!
I keep telling folks it is a REAL SECURITY RISK, and keep getting these naive, tin foil hat responses, like “so is the phone book”....
It’s a back door to take over your computer and that is what the Fed’s are telling their contractor employees.
Don’t complain to me if you haven’t received notice or didn’t recognize the implications when you received it.
Obviously there are good reasons, which is why everyone uses it. But like everything that’s meant for good, there is abuse, illegal activity and craziness. But for now I believe the pros outweigh the cons. As someone who is running for office I can tell you it is a fast and free way to get my message out. Actually, it has been invaluable.
That's definitely a problem for some people. We keep a close watch on whom our kids befriend and they have to ask permission before accepting facebook friendships. I'm canceling my account for very different reasons. Here are some of the reasons which you probably already know, I'm just including the information here for others.
Facebook applications are developed, maintained, and managed by third-party companies who can sell the information.
Facebook has in the past made private information public. Anything posted on Facebook, even information sent to someone privately should always be considered publicly available.
I have an email address for Facebook only. Sometimes people will try to befriend me using my personal email address or other email addresses. I have to be careful not to click on the requests before checking to what email address the request was sent, otherwise Facebook has yet another email address on me.
You can't delete anything on Facebook, just hide it. This includes photos, posts, pokes, etc. Everything is archived and never deleted unless you take the steps to completely delete your account here: How to permanently delete your facebook account
Two interesting links:
Fib on Facebook? U.S. Law Calls It Criminal, Critics Warn
Austrian student takes on Facebook
Facebook's facial recognition software is definitely a concern.
Everybody should go to their favorite search engine and search:
Facebook has an option to download a copy of your facebook data. Check it out in your account settings and you'll see everything you've ever posted or messaged.
She needs to learn how to block her profile from receiving unwanted messages and requests and still allow her to communicate with her family and friends. Yes it can be done with a few simple clicks, but I guess its easier to squawk about it to the world
That's how I see it too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.