Internet safety remember

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Kellis Amberlee
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Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 12:28 pm
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Internet safety remember

Post by Kellis Amberlee »

The internet is a magical place, full of kitten gifs and worldwide friendships. But, and you knew it was coming, didn't you? As much as we're about good faith and assuming the best of everyone here at FOCA, there are a lot of people using the Internet who do not have your best interests at heart.

I'm sure you've heard some variant of this before: if you're meeting a stranger, do it in public the first time. Be careful with your personal information. Don't download files you haven't approved, whoops, now that's something else.

If you have kids, I'm sure you've gone through this with them already. Don't give out your adress or your passwords or other personal information that someone could use to hurt you. It may be easy to assume that kids are the most vulnerable group, but FBI statistics say the average victim of crime is between 30 & 40. (And male. Source: FBI crime complaint center)

Through our harassment policy, we sadly have reason to believe users here might take advantage of what you put out there not thinking someone would use it against you.

If someone is pressuring you to tell you more about yourself than you're comfortable with, you are always welcome and encouraged to contact us about it. If you see someone being pressured, let us know. If you think someone might have ulterior motives, we're here.

Remember that even though FOCA makes you register in order to be able to read the more sensitive topics, there are lurkers here. Don't write things in public that you don't to risk every reader seeing. We allow multiple accounts. Maybe get a second account just for things like MeetUps.

It is always okay to say no. You don't have to provide certain info just because someone asks. There's a difference in being polite and cordial and being safe and looking out for yourself. With as many of us being socialized to always smile, this is especially important to reminder.

Think twice about what you put in your profile and what you disclose in your posts. We know from experience that someone with ulterior motives may go through your backlog of comments to find out as much about you as they can. If you post photos, take a few seconds to examine the background for identifiable details like your house address and other things people could use to find you against your will.

To be able to help you in the best way we've amended our rule 2.11 about sharing private messages. We do not allow PM:s being shared without explicit consent from all parties. Private messages are private, and breaking this rule gets you a ban. Period. Mods and admins may share PMs amongst themselves to assist with moderation issues.

We've edited this to add room for us to collect evidence and examine both sides in case a situation occurs where we need to. The rule about no sharing private message is now waived in the case of harassment or otherwise rule-breaking messages when reported privately to a mod.
The difference between the truth and a lie is that both of them can hurt, but only one will take the time to heal you afterward.

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