Topic 4: Blogger’s Belief – Identity Theft and The ‘Facebook Stalker’
Identity theft is a challenging subject which very few people understand, nor believe it will happen to them. Whilst traditional ideas of identity theft consists of bank fraud (not shredding bank statements), there’s a new strain of fraud associated with our online identities.
As an avid user of social media, and a lover of Facebook and Instagram, I feel strongly in favour of the right to privacy – and websites should be doing more to help us with it. Fire et al. (2014) have stated that users of new social media need to be correctly informed of the risks of sharing large quantities of personal data on social media. Not all sites inform us correctly. What may seem benign information to us, may in fact be digital gold to the ‘Facebook Stalker’. This metaphoric colloquialism represents the individuals or organisations that can target shared information on social media.
Since Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram, Zuckerberg’s empire has acquired more personal data, which can be used to increased advertising revenue. Levin (2013) highlights this, as Facebook values personal data, so do rogue identity thieves. Although the Facebook Stalker can be an individual, it can also be a company. One incredible example comes from the Smith family from Missouri, whose family photo harmlessly shared online, ended up enlarged at a grocery store in Prague, Czech Republic. (See video below)
Although quite amusing, the potential is worrying.
Relating back to Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram, the Facebook Stalker’s ability to steal images has never been easier. Because Instagram is generally open and unprotected like Twitter, users can gather followers. This also means that any individual/organisation can access an unprotected profile. The image doesn’t have to have monetary value, it can be used simply for ‘Catfishing’. In the below BBC article, the term refers to the misuse of someone else’s image to create a fake profile. The result can be anything from harmless, to socially devastating.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31710738
The article also references Prof Alan Woodward of Surrey University, who uses a good comparison of ‘the public internet’ and a newspaper publication. Is the image OK to appear in a publicly?
On a final note, conventional financial fraud can connect with social media. Identity Guard posted an informative article that, in my opinion states the obvious. However, one would be shocked by how often people share photos publically on Facebook or Instagram, of themselves holding a cheque/bank related information. (See Below)
http://www.identityguard.com/instagram-can-put-you-at-risk-of-identity-theft
Word Count: 400
References:
Fire, M., Goldschmidt, R., & Elovici, Y. (2014). Online Social Networks: Threats and Solutions. IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutorials, 16(4), 2019-2036.
Levin, A. (2013, February 7). 7 Ways to Avoid Identity Theft Before Facebook Gets Hacked. Retrieved March 22, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-levin/7-ways-to-avoid-identity_b_2634967.html
