Monday, February 28, 2011

False Online Relationship

I heard this story on the radio this morning on the way to class and thought it was a joke, so I had to investigate...

This story involves a 48 year old man (before the digital generation) from Illinios who invested two and half years of his life to an online girlfriend who was supposedly kidnapped in England on vacation. When the man called authorities to help investigate and return his girlfriend to safe keeping, he was then informed that his girlfriend was not real. He rebuted saying he wired over $200,000 to help her in times of need to accounts in Nigeria, Malaysia, US, and England. He provided identification of his 'lover' to the authorities just to be told it was a sample ID for the state of Florida.

I'm shocked that a man of mature age during a technological boom with known risks of identity theft or fallacy could be so blind and idiotic to the extent of sending $200,000 to a faceless person! This news article just goes to show one must be cautious about who you THINK you know and trust. Everyone should be aware of fallacy on the internet by now, especially a 48 year old. I believe the older generation is a little naiive when it pertains to the internet. They inform and moderate their kids' internet use to protect them but sometimes don't understand that age doesn't matter to someone like the one on the benefitting end in this article. Wake up parents, it can happen to you too!

-C

Here's the link to this ridiculour story: Fake Kidnapped Girlfriend

Pediatric Patient Privacy & The Social Network

In this blog we are supposed to locate and analyze a scholarly article related to my inquiry area. I found this article using the world wide search engine: Google. To confirm that this is in fact a scholarly article, I had to investigate it's origin, content, and purpose.

The reasons that I was able to categorize this article as scholarly include: the article was found within "The Journal of Pediatric Psychology," written by Rachel Tunick of Boston's Children's Hospital and Lauren Mednick of Harvard Medical School, published on behalf of The Society of Pediatric Psychology, content was lengthy and used medical jargon of that particular field, and included references at the end of the article.

The main points of this article is to inform the reader about the risks of posting private health information on a blog or social website.

1. Privacy and Confidentiality of Patients: Whether it be a parent or patient, when using a blog, either could raise reference towards another patient's scenario without their consent which compromises their protected health information.
2. If a patient or parent includes references towards their child's or their own medical staff, it could compromise the team's professionalism  and potentially make them reluctant to continue treating their child or them self.
3. Some blogs or personal websites have protection measures for users to implement at their own discretion, however some do not. The audience of a person's personal site is pretty much impossible to measure. Therefore confidentiality of a child and their family using their OWN website could be compromised. Parents using these online sites have not grown up in the technological generation so they may be unaware or naiive about the inappropriate personal information they could be disclosing for everyone to see.
4. Finally, physicians may read the parent of a patient's blog and gain information that would usually not be disclosed in an appointment. This could alter their viewpoint and treatment of that particular patient.

In conclusion, clinicians should consider both pro's and con's before reading a patient's or parent's blog. They should examine if it would provide clinical benefit or if its just out of curiosity. If chosen yes, the family should be notified before the action occurs. Physicians should also warn patients and parents about electronic privacy risks to minimize personal information from being breached.

I'm including a link if anyone in interested in this topic or just wants to read the article themselves. It also includes a links to the journal if one wanted more information about the Pediatric Psychology Society.

Scholar's Article

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Identity & Privacy of A Teacher

A few years ago an elementary school teacher from Fort Bend independent school district was selected to be one of the twenty five young women featured on the show The Bachelor. She signed a confidentiality agreement with ABC, meaning she could not release any information about what was going on during the tapings as well as letting outside sources know what she was participating in. She took a leave of absense for 22 days, 10 of which are paid. She signed off for a leave of absence due to a 'personal issue' with her residing principal and went to persue love on the show. The principal aquired an exceptional alternate to continue teaching the the teacher's 4th grade class. When parents found out about her 'intended' reason for absence all hell broke loose with accusations and biased opinions. One parent stated she was appalled by the teacher's actions because the program "does not promote family values, moral values, or appreciate the 'normal' dating process." She went on to complain that the teacher's absence disruppted her child's learning abilities and negatively affected his scores on the TAKS test. The teacher and principal were later asked to resign.

Does anyone else feel these parents in total outrage are outdated to the extent that a beloved teacher and principal were fired over the subject? If one is bound by a contract, one must abide by that contract, yes? When is a one's personal life ever going to be separate from their professional career? Will the general public allow those with a career to have a private life without ridicule or will all of us have choose a job over love? From another stand point, why is it that only ONE teacher can educate a certain student? If so, then that student will untimately fail. One must be able to adapt.

I feel that parents who held objection to the teacher's actions do not demonstrate any type of logos, pathos, or ethos. They do not separate the identity of the teacher without her appearance on The Bachelor, and they will not allow her or any other to maintain a private life.

Teacher Featured On The Bachelor Fired

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Identity, Privacy, & Safety Within the Cyber World

Everyone has that one friend that posts their entire life on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or another conversational site.  They inform you about their day, where they are, who infatuates them this week, and who is currently on their hate list.  I wonder if these people ever watch the news about cyber predators...

My decision was quick when looking at the topics of which to chose.  Identity, Privacy, and Safety within the cyber world is something most of the population dismisses. Of course, you hear every now and then two strangers meet up from chatting online and the end result is a criminal case of assualt or some other offense. But does the population really understand that anything posted on the internet can be seen by ALL even if they click 'private' or 'only visible to me'? I'm sure most of you (who own a television) have read or listened to the story of The Craigslist Killer. Anything you post you should expect the general public, future employers, Forbes 500 Companies, predators, and your parents will be subject to viewing. This new option (tag where you are) for mobile Facebook users can be easily used to track your comings and goings into patterns, making it easier for predators to find you. So please, think before you post.

-C