It's finally happened. While the world has been busy talking about the upsurge of question and answer based social networking website Quora , fellow social networking site Foursquare has hit the headlines as the first ever case of cyber stalking has impacted upon the online world.
Reports from various national newspaper titles, including Metro and Scotsman, are detailing the account of a 26-year-old man who was cyber stalked by a 22-year-woman tracking his location constantly through location-based social networking site Foursquare.
It took me a while to sign up to the location-based website, that asks you to 'check in' at venues from your mobile. Facebook was my first social networking guilty pleasure and then when that lost its charm, I turned to Twitter. In fact, only late last year did I finally succumb to Foursquare. Why did it take so long for a self-confessed social media addict to sign up? For the very reason it is hitting the headlines now.
The victim states that they were "left under siege for nine months by dozens of e-mails, calls and texts every day from a woman he only met for a matter of minutes." The alleged stalker is reported to have started showing up at a number of places the victim checked in at and harassing him as she took up the pretence that she was interested in employing him.
I saw the dangers associated with Foursquare from the very beginning. Surely letting everyone know where you are will leave you vulnerable to potential stalkers? Just like the furore over Facebook places (which, like Foursquare, asks you where you are situated in the world) which erupted over the statement that to share with everyone when you are away from home can leave you vulnerable to burglaries, there is a lot of privacy leakage within Foursquare.
Originally, I didn't particularly want anyone to know where I was and equally did not think many people I knew really gave a damn either way but the added incentive of achieving Mayorships and unlocking badges each time you check in at a destination makes the website strangely alluring and it was upon this basis that I signed up.
Before you ask, no I have not been stalked or burgled as a consequence of using Foursquare (touch wood!) and neither am I likely to be purely for the fact that I am careful how I use it. Only a fool would put their own home and full address onto Foursquare and repeatedly check in (believe me, I have seen some full addresses on there, which would have been very useful had I been a thief!) and even to check in to your local area is a risky business for those that like to keep their privacy. However, to check in elsewhere surely poses no risks?
In truth, it is actually incredibly difficult to stalk someone on Foursquare. The only people that see your check-ins are those that you have requested to be your friend on there, or whose friend request you have accepted, (except the handful of updates on the site's homepage, which, due to the amount of users signed up, are only there for a few seconds before changing!) beggaring the question why our victim accepted his stalker in the first place. OK, so he did not know she would turn out to be a complete obsessive but when she kept turning up at the same places he visited, did the thought never occur to him to delete her as a friend? (A resource that Foursquare offers with very simple instructions!) Just as with Facebook Places, it is nigh on impossible to stalk someone you are not 'virtual friends' with, even if you are their friend in real life.
Of course, no web developer is going to bear in mind of the risk of a complete nutjob stumbling across your online profiles when creating a new social networking website for in reality, there are few and far between. However, as with any social networking site the need for careful use by the user is of paramount importance. I'm sure you wouldn't put the dates of your holiday on your Facebook status, even if it is just 'friends' that can see (as long as your profile is set to private!) just as you would not paste your entire address on Foursquare in the knowledge that when you checked in somewhere else everyone knew you weren't home.
More than simply a bit of fun, Foursquare also offers significant benefit to businesses, as there is an option within the site to leave tips on check-in points, such as 'try this particular coffee bar for cheap, great-tasting espressos.' Furthermore, as the Wetherspoons trade once tried themselves, a business can offer exclusive deals to their Foursquare mayor as an incentive to keep visiting the establishment (Foursquare works on GPS so it is almost impossible to cheat the network.)
Foursquare is not a dangerous website and although the idea of it can potentially breach privacy, it is down to the individual user to filter the information they share themselves. Just like any other social networking site, Foursquare must be used with a pinch of common sense in order for it to become a fun and safe medium for expressing your views. In this particular case, it would not have taken a genius to work out how is was possible that the alleged cyber stalker kept turning up at the same places as the victim! When using social networking, you are putting yourself at the helm of the public domain and must reserve some dilligence at all times. If something is suspect, act to bring it to a halt or report it to the relevant authorities before it cascades out of hand!
Last year, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that cyber stalkers who harass people on social networking sites could face jail under a new crackdown. Restraining orders are available that can ban offenders from posting ‘any material relating to a victim on sites including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter’. Social networking is beginning to hammer away at your everyday life and as such, is being treated seriously by the authorities but at the end of the day there is no better way of securing privacy than by monitoring your own online activity.
Reports from various national newspaper titles, including Metro and Scotsman, are detailing the account of a 26-year-old man who was cyber stalked by a 22-year-woman tracking his location constantly through location-based social networking site Foursquare.
The victim states that they were "left under siege for nine months by dozens of e-mails, calls and texts every day from a woman he only met for a matter of minutes." The alleged stalker is reported to have started showing up at a number of places the victim checked in at and harassing him as she took up the pretence that she was interested in employing him.
I saw the dangers associated with Foursquare from the very beginning. Surely letting everyone know where you are will leave you vulnerable to potential stalkers? Just like the furore over Facebook places (which, like Foursquare, asks you where you are situated in the world) which erupted over the statement that to share with everyone when you are away from home can leave you vulnerable to burglaries, there is a lot of privacy leakage within Foursquare.
Originally, I didn't particularly want anyone to know where I was and equally did not think many people I knew really gave a damn either way but the added incentive of achieving Mayorships and unlocking badges each time you check in at a destination makes the website strangely alluring and it was upon this basis that I signed up.
Before you ask, no I have not been stalked or burgled as a consequence of using Foursquare (touch wood!) and neither am I likely to be purely for the fact that I am careful how I use it. Only a fool would put their own home and full address onto Foursquare and repeatedly check in (believe me, I have seen some full addresses on there, which would have been very useful had I been a thief!) and even to check in to your local area is a risky business for those that like to keep their privacy. However, to check in elsewhere surely poses no risks?
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| Foursquare: Is it really a dangerous website? |
Of course, no web developer is going to bear in mind of the risk of a complete nutjob stumbling across your online profiles when creating a new social networking website for in reality, there are few and far between. However, as with any social networking site the need for careful use by the user is of paramount importance. I'm sure you wouldn't put the dates of your holiday on your Facebook status, even if it is just 'friends' that can see (as long as your profile is set to private!) just as you would not paste your entire address on Foursquare in the knowledge that when you checked in somewhere else everyone knew you weren't home.
More than simply a bit of fun, Foursquare also offers significant benefit to businesses, as there is an option within the site to leave tips on check-in points, such as 'try this particular coffee bar for cheap, great-tasting espressos.' Furthermore, as the Wetherspoons trade once tried themselves, a business can offer exclusive deals to their Foursquare mayor as an incentive to keep visiting the establishment (Foursquare works on GPS so it is almost impossible to cheat the network.)
Foursquare is not a dangerous website and although the idea of it can potentially breach privacy, it is down to the individual user to filter the information they share themselves. Just like any other social networking site, Foursquare must be used with a pinch of common sense in order for it to become a fun and safe medium for expressing your views. In this particular case, it would not have taken a genius to work out how is was possible that the alleged cyber stalker kept turning up at the same places as the victim! When using social networking, you are putting yourself at the helm of the public domain and must reserve some dilligence at all times. If something is suspect, act to bring it to a halt or report it to the relevant authorities before it cascades out of hand!
Last year, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that cyber stalkers who harass people on social networking sites could face jail under a new crackdown. Restraining orders are available that can ban offenders from posting ‘any material relating to a victim on sites including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter’. Social networking is beginning to hammer away at your everyday life and as such, is being treated seriously by the authorities but at the end of the day there is no better way of securing privacy than by monitoring your own online activity.
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