Think before you post is the message Cpl. Hal Turnbull of the RCMP wants to spread to youth posting on social media sites.
Since the age of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat there has been another danger to the youth of today, online predators. It's a danger that is amplified by GPS tracking and over sharing on social media.
Turnbull, of the RCMP K Division Strategic Communications Unit, said when posting on social media, a GPS tag providing specific locations is attached to the post letting friends, family and others know your approximate location.
“It won't necessarily track them 24/7, but if their posting it will give a location of where they are.”
“It pings to your phone the GPS coordinates and Google maps knows what is in the general vicinity, and will suggest that you post from a known location,” explained Omni PC owner and operator Chris Fitzner,.
According to Fitzner, the technology works by accessing satellites and local cell towers, which pinpoint your general location using the signal given off by your cell phone. Even if you have the GPS tracker on your phone turned off, once you are within wifi your location is updated.
Currently there are 27 satellites in orbit, however, only three are required to triangulate your location, and should that fail, cell phone towers can also be used.
For youth posting on social media sites such as Facebook, this can be dangerous.
“Social media is everywhere now, and unfortunately it can be used to follow people or spy on people. Youth don't really consider the negative aspects of advertising to the world where they are and what they're doing,” said Fitzner, adding should someone be out to harm you they could easily find you if you are posting your location on social media.
The ability to track someone's movements through their cell phone is a double-edged sword. Although it provides a platform for online predators, it also leads police to missing persons, should their cell phone be on hand.
Youth can protect themselves online in multiple ways, including increasing their security settings, being careful of what and when they post, and knowing who their friends are.
“We sit down and talk to our children about strangers, and don't talk to strangers on your way to school and don't get into strangers' vehicles, we seem to grasp that concept readily. However, the cell phone is very much like inviting that stranger into the palm of their hand,” Turnbull said. “It's like anything else, when you are on the internet you can be anyone you want… and so the friend you make on the internet may not necessarily be that 13-year-old boy or girl that attends the high school across town, it can be anyone from around the world.”
It is important that kids and teens know who they are ‘friending' on social media, so the photos and posts they share are only seen by people they know. Turnbull noted this can be difficult because “individuals are focused on obtaining as many friends as possible.”
For parents, tightening your child's social media security settings, and teaching them about the dangers of posting online, are the best methods of combating the dangers of social media.
“Parents can sit down and have a talk with their child about social media responsibility,” stated Turnbull.
“If you teach your children that you can have it just set up as friends and family, than they don't have to worry about that information getting into the wrong hands, or just becoming public domain,” stressed Fitzner.
Posting photos online gives away more information than one may think. For example, when posting a selfie, people often forget to take into consideration who is in the background of photo, what is in the background, and what they are doing.
Turnbull noted, “Photographs are something personal, they show a person's face, their environment, their home, and often times when people are taking selfies or photos of one another, they're not paying attention to the background.”
Fitzner agreed, “You could easily be identified with who you are, who you're with, what you're doing and where you're going… and if there are people looking for you… that information is all out there free for the taking.”
Another issue the RCMP comes across is photos being posted online of someone in a public place, such as walking in the background of someone else's photo, which also can give away your location.
Even though social media has become more and more popular over the years, another safety concern is sharing photos amongst friends through texting.
“That's another thing they have to be educated to, is the fact that just because they're texting amongst friends on a social media platform, doesn't mean there is not someone they don't want monitoring those things, or getting involved,” explained Turnbull.
Fitzner concluded, “The less you tell the world who you are, where you are, and what you're doing the safer you will be, because now more than ever, the world is completely interconnected through a device in your hand.”
