If a picture paints a thousand words, just what are our pictures saying to online predators? Neither Brittany nor her mother realized it, but the two photos that Brittany posted, shown in Figures 4-1 and 4-2, give important clues to a would-be predator. Can you spot them? Figure 4-1. Brittany, with her house and family carThis photo shows their house number, helping a predator to pinpoint her location (especially easy to do because Brittany has included her city and state in her blog profile). Brittany is giving away not only an image of herself that can be used to identify her if a predator goes to her home, school, or one of her favorite hangouts, but she is also giving an idea of her approximate age and socioeconomic status. The photo also shows the family car with the license plate in full view. In Figure 4-2, the street signs in the view from her house identify the cross streets where Brittany's house is located. And the store across the street displays its name in large letters. Anybody could go online and locate that store, find out the town and state where it's located, get a map of that town, and know exactly where Brittany lives. Figure 4-2. The view from Brittany's houseFind Out More In Chapter 7, "Step 4: Don't Let Them Know Where You Live," I go into more detail about the risks of revealing your location through the information you post online and the devices and services you use. Think About It It takes me an average of nine minutes to get the following information about a potential victim from the typical blog: full name and address; a map showing the location of their home and school (using some online 3-D mapping services, you can even get a satellite photo of a person's home just by typing in their address); phone number; photos to identify the person; names of their close friends and family members; their school; their clubs, hobbies, and interests; and their emotional state. For girls, I can often add height and weight to the list. |