Cooperative Living June 2014 - 23

CAUGHT IN THE WEB by Laura Emery, Field Editor
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e've all seen or heard the stories: they amuse, scare, shock and intrigue us, and they are becoming more common every day.
From horrifying incidents of brutal student bullying captured secretively through the eye of a camera phone, to personal thoughts
and photos posted on social websites and blogs, more and more, everyday people's actions are being caught on the web.
Rarely do the subjects of such surreptitious surveillance realize that their private moments can spread across cyberspace like wildfire -
satisfying the voyeuristic appetites of a culture consistently seeking the shock factor. These incriminating or embarrassing videos and photos
are instantly out there for all of the world to see.
So, do you ever stop to think about the fact that it could be you caught on the web? When you step out into the public, how much privacy
do you really have? Are you unwittingingly posting photos and information on the Internet that could come back to haunt you?
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In a society filled with every kind of technological
innovation imaginable, you can be filmed by hidden
cameras or mobile camera phones at any time,
anywhere. This increased use of the Internet by
video voyeurs to display images captured surreptitiously
can rob victims of their privacy and dignity,
making it more important than ever to take precautions
and have increased awareness.
That's why it's important to know your rights. In
2004, Congress passed the Video Voyeurism
Prevention Act prohibiting photographing or videotaping
an unclothed person without his or her consent
in any place where there can be a reasonable
expectation of privacy, such as a gym, locker room,
public restroom, tanning bed, or dressing room.
Punishment includes fines of up to $100,000 or up
to a year in prison, or both. For more information on
your privacy rights, visit www.internetnews.com/
bus-news/article.php/3411121.
When it comes to popular social-media websites
like Facebook, it gets harder and harder to ensure
privacy. Users become lackadaisical about settings,
and often believe their privacy settings provide more
security than they do. This is because Facebook's
privacy policies and settings change often. It's crucial
that users always be aware of these changes.
Be sure and visit lifehacker.com/5813990/
the-always-up-to-date-guide-to-managing-yourfacebook-privacy.
Here, you'll find updates on security
and privacy on Facebook, along with easy-tounderstand
explanations on how to manage your
Facebook privacy settings.
June 2014/www.co-opliving.com
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For those who enjoy capturing images spontaneously,
the cellphone's built-in camera feature seems
heaven-sent. You don't ever have to worry about carrying
your camera again, because all you have to do
is pull out your phone and get the shot in a flash. You
can also post your photos instantly onto a variety of
social-media websites directly from your phone.
But cellphone cameras can also mean violated
privacy when used inappropriately or even illegally.
The proliferation of miniature cellular phones that can
record pictures silently has facilitated illicit photography
in public places such as grocery stores, sidewalks
and restaurants.
Candid shots can be emailed to friends or sent to
sites that have automated " moblogging " (mobile
blogging) such as Buzznet.com, Fotolog.net, Web
Shots.com, and Textamerica.com, and then viewed
worldwide in seconds. That means private moments
can instantly become fodder for public consumption.
Images and even voice comments (from a cellphone's
digital-recording feature) can also be taken
out of context, and not used or interpreted in the manner
or by the type of audience intended. In minutes, a
scandalous photo or sound bite can be linked to a
plethora of web pages, weaving a very tangled web.
A personal profile, provocative photos on a dating
website, candid shots of underage drinkers at a party,
fuzzy images of celebrities doing scandalous things -
all of these can cause problems, often doing damage
before a person even knows what happened. A few
bad decisions out on the town with friends can turn
into a public spectacle by morning.
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Blogging is a popular contemporary Internet
phenomenon. It's the chronological publication of
personal thoughts and web links on a frequent
basis. A blog is often a mixture of what is happening
in a person's life and what is happening on the
web, a kind of hybrid web diary.
There are as many types of blogs as there are
people. Type in the word " blog " on Google, and it
will pull up more than 74,600,000 possible hits.
Just as with most everything else, there is good
blogging and bad blogging, and it is never a
good idea to reveal too much information to such
a vast audience. Some bloggers reveal their
names, email addresses, mobile numbers, age,
hobbies, name of school or workplace, weekly
schedule, habits, photographs, or residence. This is
personal and private data that can very easily get
into the wrong hands.
The Internet can give many people a false
sense of security and privacy, but users should
never assume that just family and friends will view
a certain personal blog, web page, or posted
image. The Internet does not offer anonymity, yet
many users behave as if they cannot be seen.
Information or photos placed on the web are
rarely private.
The Internet is a great resource and serves
many positive functions, but it's still important to
guard your privacy and make wise decisions when
it comes to your web activities. 
For direct links to suggested websites,
visit www.co-opliving.com.
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STUDIOGSTOCK/ISTOCK/THINKSTOCK
http://www.Buzznet.com http://www.Fotolog.net http://www.Shots.com http://www.Textamerica.com http://www.internetnews.com/ http://www.lifehacker.com/5813990/ http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living June 2014

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