Staying Safe in Cyberspace

There has been much talk this week about how the head of MI6’s wife could potentially have blown his cover through her postings on the social networking site, Facebook. Lady Shelley Sawers disclosed details such as the location of her London flat, the whereabouts of her children and posted photographs of the couple on holiday. Yesterday, David Miliband, in an attempt to play it down, said that it was “no state secret that Sir John (Sawers) wore Speedo swimming trunks on family holidays” and said that really, we should all “grow up”.

But surely, the real issue here is that David Miliband should “grow up”? Internet safety is now a major issue, with young people especially putting themselves in danger on a daily basis and here is Lady Shelley Sawers, a much older, “intelligent” woman, showing just how easy it is to forget the consequences of our internet actions.

Placing that photograph of Sir John Sawers in his speedos may well have not been too much to worry about, but what if it was posted the very day it was taken, next to a sign for the hotel he was staying in…then he’s not that difficult to track down.

Young people posting photographs of themselves in their school uniform are equally making it easy for any paedophiles to find them just as they are if they inform people of their whereabouts. And unless you sort your privacy settings, you are opening up your life and personal details to millions upon millions of world wide web users. According to Ofcom, 40% of young people with social networking profiles are doing just that and putting their settings on public.

Nowadays, young people are conducting their personal relationships online just as much as they are face-to-face. According to MSN and MTV’s research, only 18% of young people have not tried a social networking site. It is therefore not surprising that CEOP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection group, are reporting over 400 abuse calls a month. That’s not to say they are all from young people being targeted and tracked down by paedophiles but it is from 400 people who have in some way opened themselves up to abuse on the internet simply by being there.

Internet safety is a big challenge right now and AlterEgo provides workshops to young people on Staying Safe in Cyberspace because of this. With just a little more information and a little more thought to exactly what they are exposing themselves to, young people’s safety can be greatly enhanced. And so it would seem, could the safety of MI6 and British security.

Suzannah Wallace
Coaching for Teenagers & Under 25's
www.alteregocoaching.co.uk
Inspire. Motivate. M-Power.