The online abettors for suicide : examples of extreme (mis)use of internet

http://www.cybervictims.org

The past week saw an array of editorials and headlines on cyber security, free speech in the internet and government’s decision to ‘do some thing’ for checking internet contents for curbing hate speech etc. A very small news clipping caught my eyes on 23^rd  November which read “man checks net for suicide tips before hanging himself.”(seehttp://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article2652331.ece). The man in the news had apparently everything anyone would have wanted to live a good life. But what I got from the news report is that the police on a first hand search for evidences, found out the internet pages that he was supposedly checking before his death. The pages spoke about suicide, death by hanging, common mistakes people make while hanging themselves etc.  The police booked the case under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code for investigation on unnatural death, which suggests that they are investigating on the issues as why and how did  he commit suicide and whether it was really a death by self strangulation or a cold blooded murder. But what the police would not note was, if this was a death by self strangulation, would the creators of the web-pages, that he was seeing before death,  be taken as ‘aides’ or abettors  for his death? Most of the free speech advocates would laugh at this ‘ridiculous’ point raised by me. But think, how the *right* to expression of some body  has pushed a man to extreme steps.  Still then, to clarify, I had a quick view of  some of the pages which speak about suicides. Some are really dangerous, as they show how to make the death painless. Any human being suffering from extreme depression probably would not stop in testing these steps. But, a further reading showed me the conclusion stanzas of most of these write-ups direct the reader to think something positive. Most of them speak of *living* , leaving these dreadful thoughts. But anyone in ‘madness’ to die, would hardly look at the conclusion. Mostly they will look for the steps to quick ending of the ‘disaster’ called life leaving endless web –writers  in the danger of being called ‘provocative’ or ‘suicide predators’ .

Now that internet is being used for anything and everything, this presents a potential danger for young people, adolescent teens especially who turn suicidal at the slightest of unhappiness. But thinking from the other side, the creators of the web pages who speak about suicide are practicing their own rights to express and their write ups don’t really fall under the category of unprotected speech unless these write-ups are not accompanied by some positive notes or warnings. Under the Indian Penal Code, abettor for suicide is liable for an imprisonment term which may extend to ten years and which may also be accompanied by pecuniary fine under section 306. I don’t know what the investigation reports would suggest for this particular case. But if it is proved that this youth took his own life ‘provoked’ by the suicide method write-ups (off course this may not be the only ‘provocation’) due to extreme depression, could section 306, I.P.C be extended to tap those writers? Probably no, probably yes. Nonetheless,  if the answer is yes, there would be huge hue and cry to fit this Indian provision in the light of US free speech guarantee and safe harbor policies, but this could definitely send a message to the ‘suicide predators’ on internet who specifically target their speech to particular person/s to provoke for suicide.

Think twice before exercising your free speech right. It can take some one’s life.

Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder D. (2011), “The online ‘suicide predators’: examples of extreme (mis)use of internet ”, 10^th December,2011, published in http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/”

All for social networking sites

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The Red Cross in Tirunelveli has given a petition to the District authorities to take a serious note of the teenage bike riders, most of whom do not hold proper license, do not know the road safety rules, yet own a ‘dangerously fast’ ambition to create dare devil road show. Today morning the result of the petition was visible in every nook and corner of the city. The police and the Highway petrol were blocking teenagers who were rushing to their schools on their bikes. A good move indeed. These children needed a serious warning from the police, let not be from their own parents or guardians. But the story does not end here. Just a couple of days back a young life ended sadly due to such freak accident. The accident was so fatal that it left deep impact on every body, including the Red Cross who very wisely felt this IS the time to put a STOP for these kids. One mother of another teenager gave me the most shocking news…. Who motivated these kids to be dare devil? Not the movie stars apparently, neither the video games on car races; it was the ‘wish to be a hero through social networking sites ’mindset  of these kids which was the main factor that pushed them to their death.

            Most of these school going teenagers in India are becoming addicted to social networking sites. I have myself checked some of the student’s profiles and was quite numb to see their photo albums. No, it was not sexting; it was neither any other person’s (especially girls) morphed pictures, but some of the pictures did show heroic postures on the two wheelers. These pictures give the kids a great ego boosting, especially when others comment on these pictures. When we were high school/college  students , many  of our classmates, senior school mates  used to get  ‘good lessons’ from their guardians, from our teachers as well as the local elders  when   they tried to impress others, especially we girls by doing (un)heroic activities on their bi-cycles or  on the foot boards of local buses. Using of motor bikes at the age of 16/17 was still a dream for many. Many such ‘heroes’ were thrashed by elders by words like “eta ki circus hochche”?( do you think this is a circus ?). Soon they were reduced to the position of ‘jokers’. But they failed to create such huge impact on their friends and juniors as today’s social networking teens are creating. Indeed, this generation is more matured and smart than our generation. But it pains me to think how this generation is misusing the special networking sites to spread the message of deadly happiness.

Wishing all my readers a happy and safe September.

Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder D. (2011), “All for social networking sites”, 31^st  August,2011, published in http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/

The café with better responsibility

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Not very long ago, a pub in western India witnessed violent harassment of women. The media showed the glimpses how women were literally thrown off from the premises by some religious extremist groups. Their only ‘crime’ was they entered the premises to have hard liquors. The fundamentalist group contended that drinking culture among women would spoil the Indian cultural heritage, maximum of which is carried out through the behavioral aspects of women in the society. These groups were angry with the pubs ; but they were more angry with the women who ‘dared’ to drink hard liquor in public. This incidence evoked a huge debate in urban Indian societies regarding the pub –culture and also the café culture to a certain extent. I am including café culture here intentionally to denote the growing culture of ‘addiction’ among men and women and legal powers or licenses of the cafes and pubs to provide people some thing to rest their nerves.

It is ironical now as how addiction to cyber space has started getting recognition from behavioral scientists. Not long ago in India cyber cafes were the only places where people could access the internet. Within 4-5 years cheaper rates of broadband had made almost every moderate Indian household to have internet connection. But, cyber cafes still remain as a chosen place to rest the nerves for some. Many visit the local cafes as an alternative when their home net connections are disrupted, some visit the cafes as halt inns when they are on move and are reluctant to carry mobile nets, some visit the cafes to see and connect with the world under camouflage. The last category of people can be dangerous. The recent news about terror threats through the emails showed that many of such incidences have taken place from cyber cafés. People who intend to create trouble with the help of their cyber identities may take to cafes in order to misguide the procedural investigations of the police, for cafes have their own IP addresses which may not match with the actual residing places of the users. No doubt, the government has become strict and vigilant enough in ordering every cyber café to have user’s data written separately in log books through the proposed Information technology guidelines for cyber café rules ) 2011 (section 2bb of this proposed rule defines log register as “a register maintained by the Cyber Café for access and use of computer resource”); the rule has also proposed that the cafes responsibility must also include prohibiting any user from accessing the computer or computer networks established in the café unless

1. the intended user produces a valid identity proof as has been specified under section 4(1) of this Rule;
2. the intended user actually allows the café to store his data through photocopy of the same , as has been specified under section 4(2) of this Rule;
3. if the intended user is a minor , he/she is accompanied by an adult as has been specified under section 4(4) of this Rule;
4.  The accompanying person (if any) of the intended user produces identity data   as has been specified under section 4(5) of this Rule.

This proposed rule has also specified that cyber cafes may also use web cams to have more authentic information about the intended user. In other words, cyber cafes may get full legal recognition under Indian information technology act ,2000( as amended in 2008). Now it is important to note what is the typical legal definition of  ‘cyber café’ under the Indian laws. Section 2 (na) of the Information technology Act . 2000 ( as amended in 2008) defines cyber café as “any facility from where access to the internet is offered by any person in the ordinary course of business to the members of the public.”  Cyber café therefore has been analyzed as a ‘facility’ by the Indian laws, or rather a service provider.

Coming back to my point on real life pub and café culture in India and the protests by the self declared guardians of civil society, it could be seen that whereas real life cafes need only the valid license to serve good and healthy  food , drinks and hot beverages to rest the nerves of common people, the proposed Rule has made these cafes even more responsible towards protection of civil societies. The users of the facilities offered by the café wont be thrown out by the so called guardians of the civil society for their ‘dare devil’ intentions, but these Rules emphasize that this very responsibility should be shifted to the provider of the facility, i.e the cyber café when the users intend to cross the limits to create real harm to the society.  But the message of the law is clear… unless we the common people are not becoming aware of the ‘happening’ hi-tech thefts; no one can save the world from extremism…remember ‘prevention is better than cure’.

Wishing all my readers a belated very happy friendship day.

Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder D. (2011), “The café with better responsibility

”, 8^th August,2011, published in http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/

Section 43 Of The Information Technology Act, 2000(amended in 2008) And Pollution Of Computers And Data

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Internet is a window to me. Well, it is a window to millions of users like me. This window brings in good inflow of knowledge, some sweet breeze of friendships, economic inflow for some, and also dusty wind which carries viruses.  Even those, who do not access internet from their own computers, may bring to their own “safe computers” or to other’s computers all these unwanted pollutions by secondary methods like CDs, Pen drives, Floppies etc. I bet that every common man, woman or a school going child who uses computer, is afraid of pollution of computer.  There are hundreds of modes to pollute a computer ……nonetheless, hundreds of reasons too for doing this mischievous act. The Indian Information Technology Act recognizes two  most prominent modes of polluting the computer under section 43© , i.e introducing or causing to introduce computer contaminant and computer virus. Note that the mode is a two folded mode, i.e either directly introducing or causing to introduce.  This direct or indirect operation includes introduction of any computer contaminant and/or computer virus to the computer as a machine, computer system and the computer network as a whole.

Look at the draftsmen’s  particular observance on the distinguishing feature of ‘computer contaminant’ and ‘computer virus’….explanation to section 43 says under clause (i) that “computer contaminant” is a term which has been used to indicate “any set of instruction” which is designed to (a) modify, (b) destroy, (c) record, (d) transmit  any data or programme residing within a computer . The term also includes any set of instructions which is designed by any means, to  usurp the normal computer operations. This means that this provision penalizes any or the whole activity done in this course.

             Now, coming to the term “computer virus”, the first thing which came in my mind was the usage of the term “virus” in the very thought provoking movie “3 idiots”. The protagonist and others in the movie named the strict disciplinarian head of the institution “Virus”. It was a short form of his name “Veeru Shasrabudhhi”. But I felt that probably the movie wanted to establish the fact that “Virus” was polluting the minds of young aspirant researchers……………..exactly the way computer viruses pollute the data within the computers which may have been produced after real hard work. The legislation aforementioned in its explanation under clause (iii) clarifies what is meant by the term “computer virus”. It is explained as computer instruction, data or information or programmes that can either destroy, damage, degrade, adversely affect the computer functioning; or can attach itself to another computer resource and operate simultaneously when any data , instruction or programme is executed in that computer resource. The language of the legislation therefore indicates that ‘computer virus’ can include ‘computer contaminant’ too. Nonetheless, computer virus and computer contaminant could be the two prominent modes for hacking, besides monitoring and modifying the contents. Section 43 regulates such pollution of the computer (inclusive of computer contamination and polluting the computer through virus attack) by awarding pecuniary sanction of Rupees 1 Crore which the guilty person has to pay as compensation to the person affected as such.

Taking this provision as the base, hacking and modification of the content by such “pollutions” have also been regulated by Information Technology Act, 2008 under Section 65 (especially when the offense includes destruction , alteration of the computer source code which is required to be maintained by law for the time being in force) and section 66 (which includes all the offences as has been mentioned under Section 43, including ‘polluting’ the computer). Section 65 awards sentence which could be either imprisonment term up to 3 years or  pecuniary sanction which may extend to two lakh Rupees , or both; whereas section 66 awards sentence which could be imprisonment which may extend to three years , or pecuniary fine of  five lakh Rupees, or  both.

Hence do not take computer contamination or virus attacks lightly. If you are a programmer and you are asked to create any such programme, think again how it may affect you if you were the victim. If you are the victim, do not encourage any “techy” to beat the wrongdoer. The law is there to help…..however, how far it can be used and executed, remains still a matter of debates.

Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder Debarati. (2011), “Section 43 of the Information technology Act, 2000(amended in 2008) and pollution of computers and data”,9^th June,2011 , published in  http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/

See What Headleys And Kasabs Did For Us

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Using the cyber space for spreading extremist ideologies or gaining valuable informations for the purpose of terrorist activities have become a trend now a days. Since the 9/11 incidence, all most all countries are developing stringent laws to  close any single hole through which extremists can pour in the venomous principles in the cyber space. But could the laws really achieve their purposes? Probably no. The examples of  Mumbai attack, London tube attack, the serial blasts that happened in 2008 in many cities in India may prove how laws fail to curb the situation effectively. No wander, extremism can be born in a group discussion in social networking site, in a blog, in open access religious sites . What we get to learn from this? It is not the machine, neither the public site which was probably opened to give thousands of netizens chance to express their views, neither the email service providers who provide their service for genuine reasons which could be made liable, but the human minds which got rotten due to the smell of destruction in the name of protecting some rights. I see government of India’s decision to tighten the ropes on the privacy of individual net browsers through the new Information Technology (reasonable security practices and procedures and sensitive personal data or information) Rules,2011 , as a double edged weapon thus. This and the other proposed rules empower the government to seek personal data from the “trusted” sites and even the cyber cafes which promise to give enough privacy to the users.

One of the very prominent example could be found in  today’s report about Headley prosecution case (see  Headley e-mail casts light on ugly world of Shiv Sena fixers  by Swami & Gaikwad, http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/26/stories/2011052667061400.htm).  No, the news report doesn’t say anything on these laws or rules. But what seemed important to me is, how valuable one’s personal data could be when it comes to prosecute extremists and their aids, who may never know in which trap they are being pulled into. It was long before 9/11 US tragedy that many parts of India were receiving even more dangerous terrorist attacks. It compelled the government and the security personnel to have a strict vigil on accommodations which housed ‘outsiders’ as tenants, paying guests and even guests. Well, some had felt that their privacy rights had been infringed, some felt such vigilance was good. But the ultimate result was, common people became more aware about extremists and how they might become aids to extremism without their knowledge. May be  these rules regarding digital vigilance could bring more debates , but at the same time, the physical space anti-terrorism  vigils probably would suggest  that it is better to have a careful caretaker even when in the cyber space.

Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder D. (2011), “See what Headleys and Kasabs did for us

”, 26^th May,,2011, published in http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/

Save Your Privacy In The Facebook

http://www.cybervictims.org

One of the many social networking sites where I enjoy to “hangout” is obviously Facebook. There are many reasons as to why Facebook won my heart….but at the same time; there are several ‘bad windows’ in this virtual site which literally has become a ‘home’ for many. Couple of weeks ago, I came across a beautiful picture of a girl in her bridal attire. She was not my friend, but her friend who was in this picture, was a friend of mine. I got to see the whole marriage album of someone whom I have never met either in my real life or even in my virtual life. This friend of mine who was in this marriage album, was “tagged” in some one else’s album. Like me, millions may have seen her, as well as her other friends who were thus tagged. Now, I understand this was a friendly gesture which was meant to share the albums ……..but this may bring in many unwanted troubles, especially breach in privacy  when the personal pictures could be seen by some one whom the person in question, does not want to include in his/her list. But remember, Facebook can’t be blamed because they have already given the option to exclude oneself from being tagged.

            The other bad window could be created when some one had sent you request for being a friend. I had couple of requests as such whom I had put in the “waiting list.” One day, I myself sent a request to some one whom I wanted to befriend. That was a waiting period for me ….I was not her friend but  I could see her wall posts and her comments to our common friends the moment I had sent my request to her , even though she closed her ‘doors’ to strangers. I had a glimpse on my own ‘requested’ list. Many were common friends of my own FB friends, but I internationally did not want to befriend some of them. I instantly understood how I was being open to stalking. My experiences taught me a lesson……. Take instant action in the virtual world if someone is trying to access you; remember ignorance is no defense in any courts of law especially when you are given the options to be safe.  

Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder D. (2011), “Save your privacy in the Facebook

”, 12^th May,2011, published in  http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/

Socializing through the net: some thoughts

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 A couple of days ago I received a funny mail. I was one of those many who were forwarded this mail. I was about to mark it as ‘junk’. But I decided not to ,after I read the content. It was about addiction to social networking sites. Some few lines which caught my attention are as follows:

“A twenty-something man was prone on the floor, his face buried in his hands, while a curly-haired woman comforted him.
"Don't worry. It'll be all right."
"I just don't understand it. I thought my update was LOL-worthy, but none of my friends even clicked the 'like' button."
"How long has it been?"
"Almost five minutes. That's like five months in the real world."
..............................................
"When did you realize that your Facebooking might be a problem?"
"I realized it last Sunday night, when I was on Facebook and saw a message on my wall from my husband: 'I moved out of the house five days ago. Just thought you should know.'"
"What did you do?"
"What else? I unfriended him of course!"

I laughed my heart out because many a times I get “addicted” to my status messages just like this. But no wonder, even I too had smelt messy situations in my social networking world ………..well well, yes I am supposed to not to indulge in these addictions, but I am a human and we are not infallible. I felt I must share my thoughts on this.

Very recently I was minutely scrutinizing the Facebook terms and conditions. A particular awareness tip of Facebook caught my eyes. The inherent message that it conveyed was, there could be risks in internet socializing even if you “lock” your own data. I felt this was an eye-opener for many active participants of social networking sites. Many a times people take to  Facebook, Orkut, email inboxes etc, as ‘addictions’ to come out of the solitariness. The virtual profile gives a special comfort when user gets to see many “humane” messages. No wonder, many of them are machine generated, many senders do not actually intend to comfort the receiver but try to make their own points highlighted. But many users feel that these actually fill up the emptiness. The problem begins there. The communication, the activity, the ‘supposed human gathering’ compels one to be involved. Eagerness to view the next message and even answering some of the messages becomes an ‘urge’ and this fails even a very rational brain.

Besides numbers of health hazards involved in the issue of addiction to social networking, there are numbers of other hazards that line up . Obviously one may face depression, withdrawal symptoms and this may essentially lead to no productivity in workplace and a tainted name in the society. I have gone through numbers of scholarly articles which made me to realize this hard truth.

True, these virtual profiles can be great ego boosters. But the hard truth is you need to be ‘awake’.

Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder D. (2011), “Socializing through net: some thoughts”, 8th April,2011, published in http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/

The generation which was forced to accept digitech

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The other day, I saw a 70 year old man pleading his grown up grand son to help him to use the ATM card. The boy impatiently asked the grandpa “make your card and password ready. I don’t have time. I will take just one minute to take the cash and will rush to the college.’ The wise grandpa took out his card and just the moment they entered the ATM cabin, he excitedly helped his grandson by telling him the password …………well, it was not to him alone. We all could hear that. He was excited. He encouraged his grandson ‘press ………..numbers quick quick … that’s like a good boy. Now go.’  He looked relaxed. No long queue, no manual jobs, just pressing of the numbers will do the job. I found quite a similar situation again at home. My 95 year old grandma who still takes pleasure in reading newspapers, analyses the political situation and sometimes predicts exactly too, once asked me do you think machines can really replace men. I asked her the reason for her thought provoking question and pat came the answer.."you are telling us... the old people to use  a card to get the money. Suppose if the machine goes wrong then where is the log book? Where do you go and and press  that it was me who had asked for the money  and  the machine did not pay me, but paid some  one else?' I tired to make her understand but she refused to accept the victory of machines over human beings.

Very ironically, all of us, belonging to all age groups are prone to be victimized by ‘machines’ and  the ‘system’ by which the machines run. But the older generation are even more prone to be victimized because most of them use digital technologies for financial transaction purposes. Many senior citizens may opt for ‘card’ instead of passbooks. But  at the same time, many may feel uncomfortable to use the cards. I have noticed a tendency with old people to write down the password in papers. This habit itself promises very dangerous day out especially when the person concerned asks youngsters to help in operating the ATM machine. Very unfortunately many younger members of families may have to leave the parental homes and also the older generations in the hands of none but destiny for better salaried jobs. Even though the younger generation feels secured that the older generation is left with no huge amount of cash at home like the old days, but plastic money can also cause grave problem for the security of the old people. We need to remember that our older generation was not born in the digital era. They are witnessing an era only. We have brought in the digital era and we have created the digital era. Our children are born in the digital era. Hence it is equally important to make the older generation aware of the safety issues as we are doing for our next generation. But no matter what, we have to trust the older generation’s instinct tremendously in certain cases. If the person concerned declares that he can not manage the plastic money come what may, it is useless to force digitech on him unless there is a guarantee that some one trustworthy and well versed in managing the ATM cards is always there to help him.

The hard truth is, the more we are becoming "techie," the faster human values are become smaller.

Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder D. (2011), “The generation which was forced to accept digitech

”, 26th^th March,2011, published in http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/

Young generation of Orkut and Facebook

http://www.cybervictims.org

Many of us adults got to see a new world through social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook etc. We got reconnected with our old friends, connected with like minded friends and found our new ‘groups’ to learn, share and unlearn several things. Many of us adults may have been victims of cyber predators in these social networking sites, many have actually turned an offender ( may be unknowingly or unintentionally) in these sites…………….many have blamed the police for not being able to help them in distress. What about the children who learn from their parents/peers to have their own ‘rooms’ in these sites?  In India this had created many sensational news in past ‘internet years’; remember Bal Bharti school case ? the DPS case ? Children had taken to severe bullying and resultant they turned out to teach their counterparts by more aggressive misdeeds like spreading defamatory words and even sleuth pictures through MMS. Well, we the elders can not blame the children either; they were actually “aping” adults to take revenge through cyber space knowing pretty well that ‘no one knows that you are a dog in the internet’. I would not have believed this maxim until the day I myself saw two hardly 12 years old kids opening their profile pages in a public cyber café under the guise of  two young adults…..yes, I heard them giggling when they told each other “I am 21 and you are 22”. They had chosen screen names that swiftly hid their own identities and they were encouraging other friends to do the same. I grew curious and I asked them is it their school project? They smelled something wrong and immediately closed their accounts and fled off. I grew even more curious because I was then working in a project on cyber bullying. That was the time when café owners were not obliged by law to take down the residential addresses of the ‘visitors’. When I asked the café owner did he know these kids, he nonchalantly answered “koto lok ashye jay….ami ki jani?”……,meaning “so many persons come and go, how am I to know”? Well, probably these kids were one of the thousand kids who used to travel out side their own area to escape the parent’s vigils to do such mischievous works.

But within no time, finance ministry reduced the prices of the personal computers and almost every Indian home having moderate income, could bring a PC. This probably made the situation a little more complex, because now the children preferd to stay indoors and visit their friends through these social networking sites. Well, there is no harm in hanging out in these sites, but what must be remembered is, these children may not know the bad side of the internet. We do not have a “Megan Meier” case in our country still now. But I am sure, many children are facing cyber bullying without knowing what it is, how to handle it and why it should be stopped; many are getting in to traps because they are befriending unknown individuals who may not be “children”; many girls are loosing the joys of childhood and fast catching the perils of girlhood even though they are not physically assaulted or raped. What pains me more is that we do have some laws to punish elders when they try to victimize others including children. But we do not have focused laws when the child is a hi-tech offender. 

Offcourse, it does not mean that we should restrict our children from reaching the computers. Remember India is the highest producer of software professionals and we must encourage our children to enhance the glory further. Hence, it is wise to teach every child to be responsible for his/her internet venture. Here are some advises for parents:

1.Encourage your child to speak to you regarding his/her internet experience.

2. Tell him/her to not to fight in the cyber space.

3. Tell him/her that the world is now watching the whole family. Hence it is upon him/her to behave properly in the cyber space.

And children…….

1.      Be careful when you are in the cyber space.

2.      Use Orkut/Facebook for your good….. trust me, I learnt so many good things from Orkut/Facebook.

3.      Do not make it your “life”……. Leave it when you do not like it.

4.      Remember, if you do any mischievous work, your school might take very strong action against you; they may even rusticate you. Hence do not victimize others.

And above all, be good in the cyber space. You never know how much you can get from the cyber space if you know how to use it properly.

 Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder D. (2011), “Young generation of Orkut and Facebook

”, 20^th February,2011, published in http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/

That space is yours and you must not SHARE the KEY

http://www.cybervictims.org

Couple of years back a friend of ours had proudly announced that he no more cares for postmen or the snail mails through post offices. He now ‘owns’ an email id and would love to get updates, new year wishes from his friends in his ‘inbox’. He happily distributed his email id to all of us and wait…… he gave away the password too. This was the time when Indian users of the internet were slowly getting accustomed with the concept of email transactions and there were no consolidated laws to protect the internet /computer users from the big bad world out there. In no time, our friend’s email id was no more his personal id, it became almost a ‘public id’ and he felt every one had known his private life. He closed his email id and went back to snail mails. However, he ensured that no one opens his post box without his permission and kept it under strict vigilance. Nearly 12 years have passed and now almost all of us are equally vigilant with our email inboxes. The first and foremost thing we learnt from our friend’s experience was never to share the “key” of the inbox with anyone; not even with boy friends, or even husbands. Well, we do vow to share each secret of our lives with our lovers when the hearts bond strongly, with our spouses when we get married, with our close friends when we trust each other ; but  I made it a point to not to share my passwords with anyone after I owned my own email id  in due course. The worst result one can expect when one shares his/her own password is, to find himself/herself in a messy situation like misuse of email id, hacking, cyber terrorism, monetary crimes ( if the email id is used for business and official transactions), defamation ( when the personal informations are taken out and publicized without your knowledge) and offcourse,severe spouse- abuse especially when one of the spouse is more dominant and feels it is absolutely right to monitor the other even in the cyber space.

 In 2010, on behalf of  Centre for Cyber victim Counseling (CCVC), we did a baseline survey where we found that 46.6% respondents share  passwords of their email ids and/or other profiles with others (see Halder, D., & Jaishankar, K. (2010). Cyber Victimization in India: A Baseline Survey Report. Tirunelveli, India: Centre for Cyber Victim Counselling. @http://www.cybervictims.org/CCVCresearchreport2010.pdf ). Yes, in some circumstances, sharing the passwords with business partners or even spouse becomes inevitable especially when one can not access internet due to unavoidable circumstances and still needs to keep up with his/her acquaintances. But then think of the risks: a very recent news report states that a  spouse "hacked" her husband’s and her father in law’s email ids to gather evidence for dowry harassment. In course of prosecution, she denied that it was hacking and maintained that the passwords were provided by her husband himself. Indeed, the case got a U turn and she got a “clean chit”( see “Sharing passwords with spouse is risky” by Pankaj Sharma (23^rdJan, 2011) in DNA. Retrieved on 5^th February, 2011 from http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_sharing-passwords-with-spouse-is-risky_1497980). Now, the case may need more investigation to establish the truth; but what makes a point in this case is, if it was really a consensual act on the part of the complainant himself to pass over the secret to the to the other party, he may not claim the benefit of innocence in the process of victimization. Definitely this could make a perfect case of breach of trust when financial loss is incurred. But imagine the plight of the complainant if he really had shared the password! The bitter promises of long techno-legal battles,  the harassments and finally the uncomfortable feeling when in the cyber space may never leave the poor soul to rest in peace .Such instances must not be taken lightly as many readers may feel this was a case of ‘washing dirty linens in public’; Do not forget

1.      cyber space can be used as a double edged weapon;

2.      If you share passwords with persons you do not trust or you fear that the relationship is vulnerable, trust your instincts. Be ready for legal battles such as this;

3.      Do not allow your children to use your emails/profiles and do not share your passwords with them. You never know, they may ‘leak’ your well possessed password.

4.      Change the passwords regularly.

Have a safer cyber venturing

Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder D. (2011), “That space is yours and you must not SHARE the KEY”, 10th January,2011, published in http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/

Leakage that threatened world politics in 2010: my thoughts

http://www.cybervictims.org

We have ushered in another new year with numbers of resolutions, plans and programmes for the coming 361 days. Nonetheless many may have tightened their securities to prevent a dangerous “leakage”…….leakage of significant informations to the largest talked over media channel, the ‘WikiLeaks’. When this not-for profit media organization came under lime light recently by exposing the secret US embassy cables ( See Secret US embassy Cables, retrieved from http://213.251.145.96/cablegate.html on 04.01.11), the world witnessed a huge wave of concern over the question of “data privacy” and “free speech” rights. WikiLeaks promised to release these Cables ‘in stages’, which may add more embarrassment to the concerned government/s as well as those who had taken active parts in these communications.

See how the internet is being used to expose corruption, secret conspiracies and probably executable plans for violence against mankind. But note that this particular organization gives a message: “messengers are not to be killed”. They are also concerned that the ‘spies’ may be protected from possible atrocious reaction from the person/agency once these secret informations are submitted and then published. Unlike the newspaper censorship, cyber-page can not be censored abruptly unless it is proved that this website is not following due diligence; further, ‘Free Speech’ must be viewed as the most sacred gift of modern democracy. But nonetheless, WikiLeaks had been attacked to prevent the leakage of secret cables. The biggest legal jolt against WikiLeaks were perhaps the criticisms which described the operations of Wikileaks as against national security ("Congress Mulls How to Stop WikiLeaks in Its Tracks". Associated Press. Fox News. 7 April 2010. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/16/congress-mulls-stop-wikileaks-tracks/. Retrieved 17 December 2010. Also see WikiLeaks. (2011, January 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13:56, January 4, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WikiLeaks&oldid=405722954.) The website was also hacked and suspended for apparently cementing the leaking point. But it was a fruitless effort. The website was back on the web soon and restarted functioning.

I remember a brain storming session at my alma-matter, NLSIU with my guide and two other senior faculties. The session was about  protection for the ‘whistle-blowers’ and the seniors were of the view that Kautilya’s Artha Sashtra’s dictum about protection of spies by the King, needs to be re-established with more stronger laws. The question which ‘bugs’ me is, when the whistle blower alerts the people against the law-makers, who will dare to break the law?...................... Not to forget, ‘Rule of law’ theory made the supreme lawmaker also to follow the law and not break it.

Please Note: Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article, please cite it as “Halder D. (2011), “Leakage that threatened world politics in 2010: my thoughts”, 4^th January,2011, published in http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/