In a world of fast-growing social media, not enough of the general public are aware of how to be precautious online (Image: iPreditor)

Students, are you staying safe?

A man has been arrested for stalking a woman online in Japan. According to Sky News, “He used the high-resolution images of her pupils to work that out – and reportedly studied other photos she had shared on social media, including of her apartment, to figure out where she lived.”

This should be a wakeup call to the new tech generation, are we staying safe online?

“Police said he allegedly pounced on the woman from behind and groped her, injuring her in the process” Sky news informs us.

In a world of fast-growing social media, not enough of the general public are aware of how to be precautious online. According to GlobalSign blog, “39% of Children fail to enable their privacy settings on social media.”

To reaffirm this statistic, a London South Bank University student carried out a social experiment in her class, “I found out that my iPhone was keeping track of my every location. I wanted to see if my class mates were aware of this too.” Journalism student, Uno Baker, tells us.

She carried out this experiment by telling her classmates to carry out a set of instructions, “First go to ‘Settings’, then to ‘Privacy’, select ‘location services’ and scroll down. Select ‘System services’ and click on ‘Significant Locations’”. Here was displayed a list of locations and times of where the students had been since buying the phone.

“A lot of them swore! They were extremely shocked and had no idea. I think that that’s really scary. So, I wanted to make people more aware.”This was Uno Bakers response when asked “What was the reaction of the students when they saw this list?”.

How do we define Cyber-stalking?

The oxford dictionary defines stalking as “The crime of following and watching somebody over a long period of time in a way that is annoying or frightening.”

Cyber-stalking however is the type of stalking that occurs usually online. This can happen through the means of a mobile phone, a laptop and/or any internet accessible device.

According to GlobalSign, different examples of cyber-stalking consist of:

• Making and posting fake or real sexual images of the victim or their loved ones
• Threatening the victim or their friends and family via emails
• Uploading personal information such as name, address, social security number or phone number on the Internet
• Hacking into the victim’s social media account to post offensive material and comments
• Releasing personal or fake information to discredit a victim at his/her office
• Using the victim’s social media account or email to stalk and contact others
• Creating malicious websites, fake social media profiles and blogs about a victim

How can we eliminate our naivety?  

Be aware of how you are using your electronic devices. Cover any webcams with a piece of paper. Check if your location is switched off by following the mentioned steps above. Most importantly of all, spread the word.