Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jan 2007
Source: GW Hatchet (George Washington U, DC Edu)
Copyright: 2007 The GW Hatchet
Contact:  http://www.gwhatchet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/757

FACEBOOK POLICING IS NO SURPRISE

When The Hatchet began investigating the story of a  student who was 
arrested for possession with the intent  to distribute marijuana last 
week, background material  was just a click away.

The fact that Student Judicial Services and other  campus offices use 
Facebook and other online sites to  monitor student behavior should 
not be surprising,  especially when access to potentially 
incriminating  evidence is so easy. Numerous reports over the past 
two years have shed light on instances in which  administrators use 
Facebook to investigate student  behavior. Students should realize 
that they are liable  for content posted on the Internet.

Social networking Web sites should be enjoyable  resources for 
students to maintain friendships and meet  new people in cyberspace. 
Users must realize, however,  that such content is voluntarily posted 
in the public  domain and is no longer their personal property. While 
the online personal data and images collected by GW,  other 
universities and private businesses may spur a  vigorous debate on 
privacy issues, those who choose to  post their contact information, 
activities and pictures  should not be the ones who are surprised.

Perhaps the most alarming aspect of this issue is the  willingness of 
our generation to voluntarily submit  information about ourselves to 
areas of public  scrutiny. Often ignorant to the operation of Web 
sites  that allow users to post information, students readily  leave 
an electronic trail of personal data that may be  stored on servers 
for many years.

As more University departments, such as GW's athletic  programs, use 
Facebook and other sites to monitor their  students, more members of 
the GW community will likely  express outrage over such actions. It 
is, however, a  student's responsibility to treat the Internet as the 
public domain it is and operate accordingly.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine