Volume 124 Issue 12
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
NOTICE
Following... Has Never Been So Easy A picture really is worth 1,000 words
NADIA IMAFIDON
We're all guilty of procrastinating hours of study time skimming our Facebook news feeds instead of our notes. Then, our eyes catch the name of an ex and we find ourselves clicking on it. We end up searching through photos and glancing over wall posts just to see what this person has been up to.
It's all very innocent but more importantly, easy. How many times do you wonder who is innocently "stalking" you?
Geotagging: The Stalker's Dream?
Approximately one in four stalker victims have reported some type of cyberstalking, according to a 2009 study by the Department of Justice. These statistics were reported before Foursquare was founded.
You can see why people might be skeptical to lav out their daily routine online.
SUA advisor Michelle Compton is involved with at least five social networking sites, three of which are location-based sites. Locationbased social networking sites are not necessarily a problem, Compton says.
Geotagging, however, can create problems for those of us unaware of its existence in smartphones. Geotagging is the storage of location-based data on various media. The exact longitude and latitude of where a photo was taken can be traced. Simply posting pictures from your smartphone to your Twitter account can put you in danger.
Compton is aware that she can be located through photo data, but posts photos on the web regardless. "I'm not somebody you are going to want to steal from," Compton says. "I don't have anything."
rroving The Point: Protect Yourself
Not everyone is as digitally confident as Compton. ICanStalkU.com, a website founded
by Ben Jackson and Larry Pesce, worked on a project in May 2010 to prove to individuals that posting even the menial aspects of their lives,like what they had for lunch,through photos could lead to cyberstalking. Jackson and Pesce use programs to extract data from photos. Then they post the location of whoever they have "stalked" on their website. According to their site, they hope to "get enough exposure to the problem so that [they] can start to curb its continued use."
On ICanStalkU.com, Jackson and Pesce explain that most smartphones have GPS locating technology built inside. Very few people are aware that their location will be on the web for anyone to see each time they post a photo. The easiest way to fix this is disabling the geotagging feature from your phone instructions are shown on ICanStalkU.com.
Austin Karp, a freshman from Boca Raton, FL., is very active on his account on Foursquare but like many students, he had no idea that he could be located through posting photos from his phone. Knowing this did bother him.
Foursquare is not the problem
There are numerous social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Google +, Goalla, and Yelp. Andrew Fillmore, a senior from Belle Plaine, uses all of these sites. As a strategic communications major and SUA member, he tries to keep up with the latest social media. His latest obsession: Foursquare.
Foursquare is a location-based social networking site where users can "check-in" with their smart phone or through SMS at different locations and share their location with friends while gaining points and virtual badges. Foursquare has taken off, now with more than 10 million users worldwide.
But with the birth of Foursquare in 2009 came the birth of stalking fears. It's a common misconception that checking-in on Foursquare means everyone can see where you have been.
On the site, the privacy policy emphasizes that only friends you approve can view your check-ins. "I think people are afraid of getting Foursquare because they think they can easily be stalked," Fillmore says. "However, if you decide to connect your Foursquare account to your Twitter account, anyone online has access to this information."
Fillmore rarely tweets his Foursquare check-ins. Only recently has he tweeted them to keep up with KU's Foursquare campaign.
It never hurts to check your privacy settings to make sure that not just anyone can view your profile on any social media. You never know who might come across your name and start skimming your information or get a hold of a photo. Bottom line: don't make it easy.
Jp
What Stalkers can determine from analyzing photos:
-Where you live
-Family members
-Who lives with you
-Frequent hang out spots
-Where you eat often for lunch/dinner
-Who you go out with
-Organizations you may belong to
-important dates in your life (birthday,
anniversary etc.)
**Information gathered from iCanStakU.com**
"Approximately one in four stalker victims have reported some type of cyberstalking."
University to institute wireless improvements
BOBBY BURCH
bburch@kansan.com
As students settle in for the new academic year, the University of Kansas' department of Information and Technology is busy improving services and telecommunication around campus.
After meeting with student body President Libby Johnson and Vice President Gabe Bliss, University IT began a project to expand wireless internet to frequently used areas of campus. The wireless expansion, which will continue throughout the fall semester, will eventually reach areas including Jayhawk Boulevard, Wescoe beach and Potter Lake.
However, as IT expands wireless to new areas of campus, some students have expressed concerns about the University's existing WiFi internet access.
Ann Erickson, a senior from Tonganoxie, replied to a University Daily Kansan inquiry on student wireless experience so far this year.
Julie Loats, director of Enterprise Applications and Services for University IT, said that the merger of University IT and IDS will help
"It's terrible," Erickson wrote. "From experience, it only works in certain areas and even then it's slow and cuts out."
In an email notifying University deans, directors and department chairs of the new changes, Diane Goddard, Vice Provost for Administration and Finance, wrote that: "By fall 2011, we hope that the plan for increased academic technology support will be well on its way to filling the gap at KU."
Patrick Henke, a senior from Olathe, expressed similar concerns about KU's wireless reliability.
Following Huron's recommendations, the University's Instructional Development Services (IDS) merged its operations with the IT department, taking effect last spring.
Overall need for more consistent consulting-level support for faculty and students related to technologies.
- Classroom standards have not been set, resulting in variable capabilities.
"We have problems in our room where it cuts in and out," Henke said.
In an effort to provide better service and more efficient technology support, University IT hired the Huron Consulting Group Inc., to review its technology services around campus in the summer of 2010. The group's report outlined that:
The University is behind the curve in terms of supporting technology-enhanced teaching in the classroom.
Loats said that University IT hopes to further its service efforts by offering Blackboard technology support to students.
"One of the things we heard last spring loud and clear was that students didn't feel they had a place to go if they needed help with blackboard," Loats said. "With this merger wed like to be able to provide more support for students."
"It brings all of those staff together so it can be a more focused and holistic approach to classroom support," Loats said.
Edited by Jayson Jenks
provide comprehensive technology support for students and faculty.
CHECK OUT THE UPCOMING WIRELESS LOCATIONS
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CLASSIFIEDS 10
CROSSWORD 6
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 7
SPORTS 12
SUDOKU 4
All contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
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