Facebook photos used to charge Wisconsin students
According to a Madison TV station, students at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater were arrested when a fellow student emailed a photograph found on a fellow student’s Facebook profile to local police. The problem? A stolen sign was hanging on the wall in the background.
It will be interesting to see how Facebook balances privacy concerns as it works with local law enforcement officials. In this case, a classmate notified police; they didn’t request Facebook access or records. If students are afraid they’ll get busted for being in a picture with a red cup, that could seriously hurt Facebook’s reputation as a safe place to share photos with friends.
May 11th, 2006 at 5:16 am
that’s really lame. seriously lame. and kind of the same question that seems to keep coming up about professors, little siblings, potential employers, &c, seeing pictures of you and your friends drinking and acting stupid on the facebook.
the same thing is happening to myspace, too, though, and even worse because you just need any old account to see anyone’s pictures. i know at least one teenager who got in serious trouble with her parentals (who are kind of nuts anyway) for pictures that were put up on myspace.
May 11th, 2006 at 9:42 am
Why on earth would another student report a fellow student for owning an illegal sign?
May 11th, 2006 at 11:26 am
This was a story a couple of months ago, the area news is just finally picking it up.
http://www.bobtheking.com/2006/03/uw-whitewater-facebook-and-police.php
June 23rd, 2006 at 3:23 pm
Im not sure why this is troubling. Wouldn’t any society respecing citizen report stolen municipal property if they had seen it in person as oposed to on FB? Theft is not generaly “college acceptable” behavior. If you break the law make sure there arn’t any pictures incriminating yourself available to the public.
June 25th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Facebook provides enough protection if you trust your friends. The privacy settings to pictures are adjustable. In this case, the person who got busted was out-ed by a friend. This has nothing to do with how facebook handles pictures.
Advice: share pictures with only those you trust. And don’t be stupid while posting pictures either. Or else, you deserve to get busted.