Cyberstalking Explained – Are You Being Stalked
Technology has evolved rapidly over a decade. Everyone is now connected with WiFi at home and smartphones in their pocket. Social networking sites like Facebook, Google+, Twitter have become part of everyone routine and helps to bring people closer. But Are we 100% right to say that ”Life has become better as everyone is connected”.
Well, I don’t think so and in this article, you will find out why. Every good thing has its bad side and for internet, so terrible side would beCyber Stalking.
So what is exactly cyberstalking?
Cyberstalking is not itself a crime but electronic violence is. In simpler terms, if the person is staking you on Facebook or other social media than it’s not a crime. And I think it quite normal because once in while everyone stalks their crush on Facebook.
But when this becomes excess, and stalker started sending offending by either following you on streets or sending you abusive messages, then it’s crime. The target is forced to do this that he/she don’t want to.
And there arelawsagainst cyberstalking in most countries.
How can you be Cyber Stalked?
Here are a few cases when people can become the victim of cyberstalking without even knowing.
Updating your status on social media like Facebook, Whatsapp, FourSquare with your check-in location and making your post public. This can happen even if your friends tag you.
Uploading pictures on Google Plus or Twitter from your smartphones while the location features turned on. So the picture which has been upload in the server contains metadata storing your location. And anyone with decent knowledge can get this information using free tools.
Even if you have someone mobile no. you can easily trace them using services like true caller or even Whatsapp. There are many other ways to identify people online which you can find in thisarticle.
Who is the victim of CyberStalking?
According to the research most of the people who have register complained against cyberstalking were internet noobs (those who are new to internet), compromising of teens where no. of female victims were greater than of male.
Consequences of Cyberstalking?
There was a movie released in 2012 called “Disconnected” which depicted the adverse effect of cyberstalking. If you haven’t watched it yet, I would highly recommend you do so.
Now coming to the topic, cyberstalking is bad because of it more like mental torture than physical harassment. Often victims of cyberstalking go through the cycle of depression, loss of self-confidence and even develop suicidal tendency.
How to avoid cyberstalking?
Prevention is better than cure. I believe that one should knowwhat to share on social media.
Nothing is permanently deleted from a server. There is always some workaround to retrieve the deleted files. So think twice before sharing personal information or compromising pictures on the internet. Because even though you can delete it, there will always be some way to get it back. Although it’s becoming difficult to stay anonymous online still you can Google some tools which can help you to do so.
Knowledge is the key here, but if you have already made the mistake then don’t hesitate to talk to your parents first. They will always understand no matter what you did But still if you are uncomfortable talking to your parents then find someone you trust. If necessary contact the legal authority.
To report cyberstalking you can either Google report cyberstalking with your country name or check out thisarticle.
Mrinal Saha
Mrinal is a tech geek who spends half of his day reading and writing about tech. While the nights are spent on shooting or editing YouTube videos. Feel free to geek out with him on-
