PleaseRobMe ‘not a tool for burglary’
p2pnet view Security:- PleaseRobMe.com aims to “prove a point about the dangers of sharing precise location information on the internet”, says one of its developers, Boy Van Amstel.
It “scrutinises players of online game Foursquare, which is based on a person’s location in the real world”, says the BBC, going on:
PleaseRobMe “extracts information from players who have chosen to post their whereabouts automatically onto Twitter.”
It “started with me and a friend looking at our Twitter feeds and seeing more and more Foursquare posts,” the story has Van Amstel stating. “People were checking in at their house, or their girlfriend’s or friend’s house, and sharing the address – I don’t think they were aware of how much they were sharing.”
He, Frank Groeneveld and Barry Borsboom, all from Holland, “realised that not only were people sharing detailed location information about themselves and their friends, they were also by default broadcasting when they were away from their own home”.
“The website is not a tool for burglary,” Van Amstel stresses in the story.
“The point we’re getting at is that not long ago it was questionable to share your full name on the internet. We’ve gone past that point by 1000 miles.”
Advertising company Google says its Street View, with panoramic snoop views of peoples homes and castles, isn’t a tool for burglary either.
..… and identi.ca
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
BBC – PleaseRobMe website reveals dangers of social networks, February 18, 2010
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February 19th, 2010 at 7:38 am
Foursquare lol I used to play that in Primary School
February 19th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
“Advertising company Google says its Street View, with panoramic snoop views of peoples homes and castles, isn’t a tool for burglary either.”
That’s because it’s not.
We’ve berated certain artists on A2F2A for embracing a similar fallacy .. their belief that the Internet IS a broadcast medium,
simply because it can be used in a similar manner.
The Internet is not a broadcast medium, though it can perform a similar function.
A screw driver and a drill are not tools for burglary, even though they can be used to commit burglary.
I could go on, but I hope I’ve made some sort of point.
In case I’m not clear enough, perhaps it’s time we stop blaming inanimate objects or automated systems for
criminal acts and blame the CRIMINALS instead. We become indignant when P2P software is criminalized, since
it has many legitimate uses but beat Google over the head because some who aim to misbehave can use it for
ill, even though it also has many legitimate legal uses ( it’s been a great help to me, and no, I’m not a burglar
or stalker ). We sound just like the RIAA lawyers.
A screwdriver is just a screwdriver. Blame the burglar not the tool.
February 19th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Personally, I find stories like this …..
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9159278/Pa._school_district_denies_spying_on_students_with_MacBooks?taxonomyId=17
.. more disturbing.
Should webcams now be banned because they are “Spy Tools” ?
February 19th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
@ Dredd:
Snap! I was literally posting this http://www.p2pnet.net/story/35972 while you were posting your comment!
Cheers!
February 19th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
ROFL … Well, you know what they say, Great Minds .. etc … even though we obviously agree to disagree on some things