The Dangers of Modern Technology

Scottsdale Police Supervisor of Internet Sex Crime Detectives gave a very informative presentation on some of the dangers that evolve from the amount of personal information people share on social networking sites like Facebook, Mindspring, MySpace, Twitter, chat rooms, gaming sites, webcam dens and more. True cases of life and death stories resulting from Sexting and Cyber Bullying were also shared.

One of the core elements to keeping a safe environment and not becoming a target or a victim is to minimize the amount of personal information you share online including address, phone numbers, photos, private information, etc. and remember, you can never ever take it back! What is online or on your phone is there forever, traceable, accessible and able to go viral in some circumstances. Deleting something only makes it go away on the surface. Transmitted data is constantly mined, warehoused and can be spread to countless sites and people around the world.

The other core element is to make sure your Facebook friends are your real friends, people that you know and have a physical friendship with. Not friends of friends, people you have never met, or someone who looks nice or pretty that would seem like a good friend. Having hundreds of friends because you believe it will make you look popular can be very dangerous when a predator pretending to be someone they are not is watching everything you write, every picture you post, where you are, when you check into locations, what you like, everything you do!

Amazing Technology emerges and advances every day. However with that comes many dangers. The detective clearly and repeatedly stated, predators are out there, all day every day everywhere. In 2009, 1 in every 33 children were sexually solicited on their cell phone or computer. It is now 1 in 5. These ‘creepers’ are men and women alike, young and old and the internet is their playground. Be safe and be very careful what you choose to share and who you share it with.

We hope to have future presentations from the Scottsdale PD. Until then, here are resources where you can raise your awareness and gain more knowledge on how to keep your children, and yourself safe online.

http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents

http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/servlet/PublicHomeServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/parent-guide/parentsguide.pdf

http://notmykid.org/