Thursday, March 05, 2015

If It's Digital, It's Not Anonymous

Here is a truism of online life:

"I love [SERVICE] because I can say what I want."

Guess what?  Fill in that sentence with anything -- and it simply is not true.

SnapChat? Nope, they were caching all along.  Screen names? Ask GeauxJudge about that.  Text messages?  Check in with B. Petrino.

Today, the latest epic security fail:  the conviction of a Michigan State student for his bad behavior on the supposedly anonymous YikYak.

Here is the important note from the Lansing State Journal:

He is among at least a dozen college students across the country who since September have been charged with using Yik Yak to post threats, according to news reports.

I do enjoy these I told you so moments -- digital assets are easily copied and extremely transportable.

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