Technology & Innovation — November 17, 2009

Facebook Theft?

Social-networking site Facebook is increasingly being used as a tool for thieves to target people – but also for cops to catch them red handed.

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In Venezuela police have discovered a pair of students at university in Caracas who have been robbing their Facebook friends’ homes using information taken from the social-networking site. “Police raided the apartment of one of two students who, working in tandem with another couple, had been using Facebook to befriend classmates. They then used the information their new ‘friends’ posted on their profiles to find out where they lived, what they owned and when they were not at home…Security analysts in Venezuela say it is becoming increasingly frequent for criminals to use social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Sonico and Hi5 as a source of information for house robberies, fraud and kidnappings. And it’s not just the criminals capitalizing on this online data source, the police too are using it, to go after both hard-core criminals and political protesters.”

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Culture & Religion

A thief left her phone at the scene. The victim took over her social media, sparking a wild internet-sleuthing saga

What started as a viral case of public shaming has morphed into a dark story involving internet sleuths, a criminal network, and the suspicious death of a 62-year-old man in St. Louis.

Technology & Innovation

For the first time ever, Facebook has revealed its privacy guidelines

New privacy tools and transparency are all part of continuing changes to the largest social network in the world.

Technology & Innovation

Frustrated with Politics? Facebook Just Made It Easy to Contact Your Rep.

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Culture & Religion

Social Media and the Loss of Curiosity

From MySpace and Hi5 to Facebook and Twitter, our relationship with social media has evolved over the past 15 years. Unfortunately, this may have led to the loss of curiosity and the devolution of our bonds with the people these platforms were built to connect us with, beyond the boundaries of time and space.

Why Facebook Is Not for Children

As Facebook considers extending its membership circle to include pre-teens, one parent is resolved to keep her kids off the social network so they can establish friendships in the real world.

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