By CATHERINE BROWN
Giving out seemingly innocent or insignificant information about yourself over the Internet is dangerous, said a University Police officer.
Lt. Greg Barber, University Police Manager, said the dangers of the Internet are becoming more apparent. Referring to even the smallest detail about yourself while chatting on the Internet can help lead a stranger right to you, Barber said.
“Things that are kind of obtuse or not really obvious don’t seem harmful, but when you put them all together over a course of time you paint a very complete picture of yourself,” Barber said.
Barber said some police officers around the country have gone undercover on the Internet in chat rooms. Barber said these undercover officers have been able to identify and locate people they have chatted with by just learning small details about these people.
“You never know who is on the other end of that message. You don’t know if they’re across town or across the world. It’s very difficult, so you have to be careful how much information you have to allow out, because they could trace it back to you,” Barber said.
The University Police have not had cases specifically relating to Internet chat rooms, he said.
“We do see quite a number of stalking cases and things like that. Whether it comes from an Internet connection or something, we really don’t know,” Barber said.
Janene Van Eizenga, 19, a junior from Huntington Beach, Calif., majoring in Spanish, said she chatted in Internet chat rooms frequently last year. Van Eizenga said she never encountered any dangers, but she did give out too much information about herself.
“Some people are really pushy to get information about you, but they won’t give out information about themselves. Those people make me nervous,” she said.
It is easy to trust someone just by talking to them over the Internet, Van Eizenga said. If you start a friendship with someone, it is easier to be more lucid. It is scary how much you find yourself telling complete strangers, she said.
Van Eizenga said she once chatted with someone who knew what computer lab she was in at BYU. She said the chatter told her he was on his way over to meet her, so she left the computer lab.
“I’m sure he meant no harm, but it made me very nervous,” Van Eizenga said.
Van Eizenga said she knows a lot of people are too loose about giving information about themselves to people over the Internet.
“I think that people are really dumb. They think they feel safe, but they really don’t know how dangerous that can be,” she said.
Van Eizenga said she probably did not experience as many bad encounters on the Internet as others do. She said she safe-guarded herself against this by going to a chat room called YChat.
According to its web-site, www.ychat.com, YChat is a chat room intended for people who hold standards similar to those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Van Eizenga said she felt better knowing most people at YChat were members of the LDS Church. Occasionally someone would enter the chat room to learn more about the LDS Church, but most people were already members, she said.
YChat can enforce its BYU standards by monitoring and recording all conversations. Additionally, if a chatter is offended by another user, the chatter can use the ignore command or contact YChat administrators.
Although Van Eizenga said she felt safer at YChat than at any other chat room, she said she is still hesitant about giving out any information about herself.
“I had some uncomfortable situations and I think I was stupid at times. Now I see the stupidity of others,” she said.
