The Winding Memoirs of a trying Internet Marketer, Sports Edifîce, Starving Philosopher…

Social Networks act as facilitators of our simulated self’s online. Not a virtual identity, but an extension of our real identities. So what happens when we extend our personal lives into a scope that may leave us visible in ways we’d never sign-up for to begin with?

Foursquare Security breach unlocked by proactive hacker: Foursquare Safety Issues?

Foursquare is one of the more controversial social networks available, as many don’t want people knowing where they are at any given time. Those fears have gotten real as hacker Jesper Andersen revealed a security breach with the Foursquare website. This hole allowed him to snag data from 70 percent of all check-ins in the San Francisco area over the last three weeks.  That adds up to around 875,000 check-ins.  Wired explains how Andersen’s hack worked:

Phonedog.com reports that Jesper Anderson revealed a breach in Foursquare’s infrastructure allowing him access to nearly 1 million check-ins within the San Francisco Bay Area’s Ferry Building location. Foursquare has since addressed the issue, but the concerns that a circumstance such as this evokes with a technology that already has some on the fritz is quite prominent.

Similarly, there was a recent scare that took place with an Indiana couple involving the use of Facebook. Now this is a very different concern then the one mentioned above, but far more starting as far as the consequential results: Facebook Robbery by Status Update

As CNN reports the couple made a status update on Facebook regarding attending a local concert, only to have one of their Facebook “friends” use the opportunity to rob their home while they were out. Since social media (and it’s web vehicles such as Facebook, Foursquare, Gowalla, Geo-tagged Tweets, etc) is  representation of “the real world”, such occurrences shouldn’t come as a surprise. These networks are simply tools, how we use them depends on the motive. Continue reading →