Todays Lady

Image by Mark Stosberg via Flickr

n our electronic age, it seems that everyone is either Twittering, Facebooking, MySpacing and so on. If you're not on the net, well, you're not connected. Guess who else is joining us on the net? You guessed it - the sexual predator.

A recent study done in February 2009 by MySpace revealed that they had over 90,000 registered sex offenders on its site. This is after a strict policy of not allowing sex offenders access. They promptly removed them. Guess where they went? Sentinel SAFE, a security technology firm that helps social networks identify sex offenders, found over 8,000 of them were lurking on Facebook. Needless to say, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

So you know they exist, but what can you do to protect yourself? Here are a couple of common sense checkpoints to keep in mind when you are posting online.

• Make sure that your "friends" are your trusted friends and note your security protocol as to what folks can and cannot see on your page
• Take a look at the pictures you are posting, especially of your kids. Are there bus numbers, school names, house numbers, recognizable landmarks in the background?
• Eliminate dates and times of where you are going or have been. It makes it way too easy to stalk you.

Remember, that once a predator can connect you with your child, all they need are a few basic details regarding pets, vacations, schools, employment and friends to convince your child they are not a "stranger" and to let them in the house, pick them up or leave your neighborhood.

Always look at what you are posting from the other side. Ask yourself, if I wanted to hurt my family, how could I use this information? Once you have the answer, fix it so it cannot be used or limit who has access to the information.

In today's world, sexual predators have more access to information about us than they ever did. Let's not make their jobs any easier by leaving the "internet door open" for them to come in.