Schools

Speaker: Everything on the Web Can Be 'Public and Permanent'

Middle School students, parents hear many reasons to be responsible online.

Richard Guerry, of the non-profit Institute for Responsible Online and Cell Phone Communication, gave Canton Middle School students and parents numerous eye-opening examples of Internet abuse Friday but his overall message was relatively simple.

He told both groups, "You must maintain a mindset ... Am I ok with what I'm about to do to being public and permanent?” he said. "That is the preventative mindset that will keep you out of any self-inflicted issue, ever."

He added that it didn’t mean a picture he would take at that very moment and put on the Web would necessarily become "public and permanent" but rather that it's a way of thinking — a Golden Rule of the 21st Century that all people should know.

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"This is not an absolute truth. ... Nothing is absolute about public and permanent" he said. "It's a preventative mindset."

Guerry's talks to parents and students were part of “Bring Your Parents to Canton Middle School for Internet Day” Friday. The Canton Community Health Fund sponsored the event.

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Guerry used a projected computer screen during his presentations to show numerous examples of troubling situations.

In one case, a male teenager created a Facebook page pretending to be a girl, solicited nude photos from male friends and then blackmailed some of them into letting him sexually abuse them. In other Facebook examples, criminals learned when people were away from home from status updates or figured out bank passwords based on their biographical information.

And while some of these cases involved people in the victims' neighborhoods, others do not. Facebook accounts are hacked all the time, he said. In one case, someone found private nude photos and turned them into the users’ profile pictures. E-mail accounts, smart phones and hard drives can be hacked as well and numerous nude photographs and video of illicit, seemingly private acts end up on overseas porn sites every day, he said. 

In addition, files on a digital card or hard drive are never fully erased, he added.

"Most people have absolutely no idea ... that their private, for- you-only content is flooding the digital black market," Guerry said.

Criminals have myriad ways to get the content, he added. They have fake sites that mirror popular ones, hubs that scan the Internet and often simply play off others' curiosity and ask people to share information about the friend or neighbor they would like to see naked.

He also warned kids and parents about other aspects of the Internet. Employers are allowed to do a seven-year social media background check. In another tip, he said, never purchase anything from websites that do not contain the “https” on their checkout pages. He also said passwords do not equal privacy and Macs may receive less attention but are no safer than PCs.

But despite all the pitfalls, Guerry said his goal was not to scare people away from digital content. The criminals are looking for the missteps, he said.

The openness, ability to share, historical record, employment opportunities and other aspects of the web are awesome and students need to use technology, he said.

"It will only hurt your professional and social progress not to use it," Guerry said.

Parents can find out more at http://www.iroc2.org/95.html


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