Is anyone afraid to search things on the computer now ?

[GeekyGirl]

I wouldn't worry about Websleuths were you are anonymous. Facebook or other social media were you personal info may be exposed is a differant matter.I read that for employment purposes some background checks include social media. Look out.

We actually just had a DOD brief about identity phishing and it was positively frightening to see how easy it is to ferret out your online presence, even in anonymous boards like this... Creeped me out.

 

[RANCH]

We actually just had a DOD brief about identity phishing and it was positively frightening to see how easy it is to ferret out your online presence, even in anonymous boards like this... Creeped me out.

I thought that phishing comes from the word fishing. In other word, someones trying to catch your personal information by putting a lure out there for you to bite on.Then you give them the info.
On a board like this they would have to hack in. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Schu7]

The 20TH century - "a diamond is forever."

The 21ST century - "Google is forever."

 

[gngr~snap]

No, but I have decided its probably best to just destroy it, and buy a new one ever year or so !!

:floorlaugh:
I do stay WAY AWAY from anything even closely related to child trafficking and the like! I do believe they have a radr for that so I don't even read articles about arrests and busts!

 

[GeekyGirl]

I thought that phishing comes from the word fishing. In other word, someones trying to catch your personal information by putting a lure out there for you to bite on.Then you give them the info.
On a board like this they would have to hack in. Maybe I'm wrong.

It's not so much getting your personal info from the board, it's that people tend to use similar screen names throughout their online presence, so if I'm GeekyGirl here, and I only put that I'm from NC in my profile, that seems anonymous, bc there are lots of people in NC. However if I'm ALSO GeekyGirl1234 in some other forum and say, I have my e-mail address listed and I'm from NC in that profile, now they have the e-mail address for GeekyGirl who posts on Websleuths. Then, if I have my e-mail address listed in, say my Facebook profile, which has my real name on it, now they know that "Jane Doe" is really GeekyGirl who posts on websleuths. That a really simple example of it, but you get the point. It's scary.

 

[RANCH]

It's not so much getting your personal info from the board, it's that people tend to use similar screen names throughout their online presence, so if I'm GeekyGirl here, and I only put that I'm from NC in my profile, that seems anonymous, bc there are lots of people in NC. However if I'm ALSO GeekyGirl1234 in some other forum and say, I have my e-mail address listed and I'm from NC in that profile, now they have the e-mail address for GeekyGirl who posts on Websleuths. Then, if I have my e-mail address listed in, say my Facebook profile, which has my real name on it, now they know that "Jane Doe" is really GeekyGirl who posts on websleuths. That a really simple example of it, but you get the point. It's scary.

You know what the key problem is i'm sure? It's when you get to the Facebook profile which has your real name on it. I don't have a Facebook profile.

 

[GeekyGirl]

You know what the key problem is i'm sure? It's when you get to the Facebook profile which has your real name on it. I don't have a Facebook profile.

LOL... There are people who don't have Facebook??? Seriously though, if there's anything on the net that associates your real name with an email address, it's not that hard for someone who's really, really determined to figure out who you are. Data aggregators are scary, scary things sometimes. Ever filled out an online registration form, and it asks you for name and email address? Chances are that information can be found somewhere on the net.

 

[RANCH]

LOL... There are people who don't have Facebook??? Seriously though, if there's anything on the net that associates your real name with an email address, it's not that hard for someone who's really, really determined to figure out who you are. Data aggregators are scary, scary things sometimes. Ever filled out an online registration form, and it asks you for name and email address? Chances are that information can be found somewhere on the net.

Ya.They will get a name and address. On Facebook with some people, maybe not you, they will get a lot more.

 

[headndownstream]

I'm scared as hell. Even before I read about KC I knew that if I end up on the wrong side of the court those searches will be used against me. KC's case just confirmed it.

And frankly I don't believe in chloroform theory. Making chloroform isn't an easy task and definitely out of KC's intelligence range. She searched because of the picture posted by her boyfriend. The traces of chloroform in the car were because Cindy cleaned the car with household cleaners. But prosecutors used it anyway.

The chloroform issue has bothered me the most 'cause I can't imagine her getting her act together well enough to actually follow through with the process (which is a process as I understand it). I have thought that Casey used cleaners in the care. If Cindy did, even though she wouldn't have wanted to admit it, maybe she eventually would have. If Casey had cleaned it, it showed guilt. (Not that she ever admitted anything anyway)

 

[Mysteeri]

Not at all afraid. If I get in trouble, I will explain in testimony why I did the searches.

 

[raine1212]

No, I have a friend in the GBI and he or she knows what I do on the computer. We talk a lot about the missing and cases that involve children and of course the ICA trial.

 

[Tuffy]

Am I afraid? Not at all!

Lots of people do the same types of things. My husband is does gunsmithing and locksmithing. He looks up all sorts of bizarre things. I do too. The thing is we haven't done anything illegal.

Let's make this clear, Casey was not innocently sitting at home, when detectives kicked in her door and took her computer. She has many other pieces of evidence piled up against her. Her computer searches did not do her in.

My husband's example was, "what if I look up fertilizer, then a building blows up downtown?" Ok, if a building downtown blows up, the detectives first move is not to confiscate all the harddrives in the city, to scan their Google searches. That would be something that would be looked at in conjunction with the rest of their investigation.

Searching for something bad, does not a criminal make.

 

[LolaMoon08]

When all else fails, blame it on Casey Anthony. :rocker:

 

[~n/t~]

Nope. I'm not planning on murdering anyone.

 

[AnotherGladysKravitz]

I'd like to say no, but seeing how a defense attorney can turn a kitten into a sasquatch, maybe I am.

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

Ha, ha I thought about it, but then with all of the stuff I have already searched since I have had my laptop, I'd be in big trouble anyway. So I went ahead and searched a few of the terms that were on Casey's computer just for the heck of it

I'm hoping my stacks of notebooks with cases I am interested in, and notes for possible novels, would back-up my gory searches...but they would still make for headlines if I am ever charged with murder.

That is exactly what I do. I also write a weekly summary of what I am doing, which is in a folder marked progress, where I write about what and why I am researching something. And I back this up.

 

[MissDiva]

It's not so much getting your personal info from the board, it's that people tend to use similar screen names throughout their online presence, so if I'm GeekyGirl here, and I only put that I'm from NC in my profile, that seems anonymous, bc there are lots of people in NC. However if I'm ALSO GeekyGirl1234 in some other forum and say, I have my e-mail address listed and I'm from NC in that profile, now they have the e-mail address for GeekyGirl who posts on Websleuths. Then, if I have my e-mail address listed in, say my Facebook profile, which has my real name on it, now they know that "Jane Doe" is really GeekyGirl who posts on websleuths. That a really simple example of it, but you get the point. It's scary.

It's kind of ironic, but I don't use MissDiva for ANYTHING else for that exact reason. So when the Scott Peterson trial was over, and I didn't use Websleuths for a while, and then the ICA thing broke on the news, I had a hell of a time remembering what my username was! All of the other MissDiva's that can be Googled are definitely not me.

I also, by default, use a program that routinely changes my IP, I don't use the same password for everything, and I don't even use the same email address for everything.

Now, to answer the question, this has not made me change what I search for. I'm a very inquisitive person, and I look up things that might make eyebrows raise on occasion, but it's purely out of intellectual curiosity. I'm a pretty law-abiding and an extremely moral person.

 

[Jakpot]

With all this back and forth about the computer searches, is there anything any of you are hesitant to look up on your home computer ? I thought this topic would help distract us and lighten moods while we wait for the jury to make their decisions. For me, I wonder if my websleuths activity will ever cause me grief. LOL

Regrettably our overall lives are an open book to big brother and investigators

 

[SeekingJana]

I have NO FEAR in searching anything I want to know about via a valid web address ( meaning-- I don't go to *advertiser censored* sites for any reason ever).

Reason is simple: I will NEVER plot or scheme to kill a member of my family.
Or any other human on this earth.

I've always known that everything is recoverable. My spouse can do most of it himself. ALL the computer forensics really did was hammer home the fact that what we do online leaves an indelible trail.
If you are seriously worried, get a very very strong magnet, take your hard drive out, and it will be toast. Of course, then you will need a new hard drive AND new browsing moral criteria too, I guess.

Bottom line- unless you are a murderer in waiting, don't stress over a thing.

Hugs,
Maria

 

[RobinBFaboulous]

I have no intentions of killing anyone or ever being investigated for anything, so I'm not worried.


I'm pretty sure my computer has some weird stuff, but I like to keep myself on the right side of the law, so no worries