(Image used under: Creative Commons 3.0 [SRC])

Well this is different. I knew that posting online can have severe negative effects on the poster, but I hadn't considered the effect on the parents.

"Whether we're talking about dad's work secrets or problems between mom and dad with their relationship," Sgt. MacDonald said.

We asked him to show us just how easy it is to find incriminating posts. It didn't take long.

"Not only do I have to live with my nagging mom, my dad does drugs. This person, Tara, says her parents are lazy alcoholics," reads Sgt. MacDonald.

He says it's not hard for police, or employers, to uncover the identity of teens from the details in their profiles

While those people might deserve to get fired (if the teen poster is telling the truth and not just venting), the article lists another example of a mortgage broker finding out that one of his customers lost his job.

Privacy is starting to become harder and harder to protect, but also more important at the same time.

Schools have our kids confused with criminals

(Image is in the Public Domain)

In a recent newsletter, the Electronic Frontier Foundation writes:

Despite complaints from privacy advocates and parents, schools in states across the country are considering using fingerprint scans to track students. Kids at Sandlapper Elementary in Columbia, South Carolina, have their fingerprints scanned to pay for their breakfast and check out library books, while officials at the Hope Elementary School District in Santa Barbara, California, have just announced similar plans to use finger scans to charge students for their lunches.

People need anonymity. It is up to the individual to decide whether to disclose that they were at a particular place, associate with particular people, or are involved in particular events. That's what it means to be innocent until proven guilty.

This is really simple folks: Criminals lose their rights, law abiding citizens don't. For the necessity of investigation, people who can be reasonably suspected of being involved in wrong-doing can be looked at more closely (with a warrant), but other than that, no government body should be tracking, monitoring, or data mining information about anyone. Raising kids as sub-citizens who won't expect the same rights and privileges we enjoy today is NOT ok.