The Dark Side of Social Media

Linda becomes paranoid in this article, as she speculates on the darker side of social media and how it could, in the future, “own” its users.

Some Positive Aspects to Location Awareness

This ability to find you immediately through a mobile device is a great thing if your kid gets lost in the woods. Always send your kid out with a mobile device and the number to a local police dispatch unit for his or her safety if you worry. And, if you haven't committed any crimes lately, and you don't care who knows where you are located, then carry as many mobile devices as you want.

You also can be protected against credit card fraud, as some geo-location software helps to identify users from areas with high instances of credit card theft. If a merchant receives a card from a high-risk area, they can ask the card holder for additional information to verify their identity. Also, if a card was used by two users in different time zones at the same time, a red flag would be raised. But, if you don't use credit cards, there's no need to worry.

That's all I can think of on the up side, other than helping to make yourself feel important as you bombard friends, family and total strangers with your Foursquare locations. How much do you think we care about where you are at any given moment, really? At the same time, how much attention do you think you're drawing from people you don't know – especially if you don't want them to know where you are located?

How to Avoid Oversharing without Paranoia

In February this year, Lifehacker asked their readers about how many of them used geo-location software. It seems that users are in the minority, but to view all the locations that are shouted out on Facebook and Twitter, I think some people are lying. In that article, they mention the Web site, Please Rob Me. This site tried to point out that sharing a location can be an issue, especially if you are sharing where you vacation and that the house is empty.

While that Web site has stopped sharing Tweets from people who use geo-location software, they continue to try to raise awareness about "oversharing" information about your location and other pertinent clues about things such as how much money you have, what type of car you drive and more.

Take a look at the two links displayed on the home page of Please Rob Me. One points to a page at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which lists many systems that we might use every day that track our locations. While this article also lists some solutions to protecting an individual's identity, they admit that many corporations and communications systems penalize any resolution with higher prices and other issues. This, to me, is one warning sign that a proliferation of location devices is exactly what corporate entities want.  While this desire on the corporate level might be "ok" if corporations were limited in power, it becomes an issue when corporations become stronger than governments – such as when French water companies almost took over the French government (see: Blue Gold) and as BP flexes its muscles in the Gulf of Mexico in the ongoing oil disaster.

Even now, there is talk on Capital Hill about the ability of the government to control the Internet to the point where it can "shut it down" in case of a national emergency. When you begin to understand that a supposed "democratic" government is talking about shutting down communication lines – yet possibly have the ability to confiscate location information – then you might think twice about voicing opinions and locations online. At that point, a "free" country no longer is "free," and a person's past can come back to haunt him or her.

In the other link on the Please Rob Me page, which points to the CDT again and an article about over-sharing, the author states, "Social networks have increased enormously in size and number. Most of them allow you to relay messages between different sites and it's easy to lose track of just how much information you might be giving away and how many people have free access to it." This statement leads back to the point that you might want to limit your social media use and how you connect that data, and also the need to stay on top of ever-changing privacy controls within those social networks.

Outside of dropping out, that advice is about all you can use to control what people know about you – except, of course, for what you say. Even talking about the temperature outside might lead people to learn where you are located, especially if they really want to find you. Think ex-spouses, the tax man and other individuals you would prefer to avoid.

Another way to keep yourself somewhat 'safe' is to avoid putting all your eggs into one basket.  For instance, I've noticed lately that Google seems to be everywhere, doing everything. Why, then, would I feel the desire to put myself in Google's path, when other options are available, such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Of course, the possibility exists that Google could acquire any one of those social networks, but – until then – I can enjoy Google's tools without being enveloped totally by them.