Ask.fm….. A warning to all parents

blokecalledkev

My understanding of this type of account and correct me if I wrong is that the questions are posted by other users of site. The question posters remain anonymous and can come from any other user who as an account. All any user has to do to post a question to another user is to follow them.

Although this account can be tied to Facebook and twitter, it does not mean that questions posted there come from Facebook friends. Identifying anybody who posts a question on this site is the concern.

I have not got one of these accounts but if I did could somebody explain to me what would stop me from posing as a child, following a 13 year old child and posting questions anonymously? If there is safeguards in place that does stop this, I will review my opinion of this site. I see no such safeguards.

As far as I can see, the vile questions could have come from anybody; from children (adults for that matter) she may not even know.

She is not bullied nor harassed through other mediums, this we know, we actually do keep an eye on them. It was this medium that we missed. I am not against social networks, I use them, and I like them. My entire family use social network sites. It is this one social network site I have issues with

Kevin.

System

blokecalledkev wrote: »

I have not got one of these accounts but if I did could somebody explain to me what would stop me from posing as a child, following a 13 year old child and posting questions anonymously? If there is safeguards in place that does stop this, I will review my opinion of this site. I see no such safeguards.

With the internet that is true about any forum, message board, social media etc. There is no safeguard that can guarantee the person you speaking to is who they say they are. I could be any age from 2 - 102 and could pretend to be that age. Its how the internet works.

Robin_TBW

Firstly, it is possible to select a setting that makes it so only others who have signed up can contact you.

Secondly, you might want to ban her from Tumblr too. They have a question asking facility on there also. But then you might want to ban her from Facebook and Twitter too as anyone can create a fake account and say whatever they want. But then you can do that with email also so you may want to ban her from email. People will always find a way, the more obstacles you put out there, the more savvy they'll get to things they need to do to get around them.

maninthestreet

The Worldwide Web is not a playground for children....

blokecalledkev

goater78 wrote: »

With the internet that is true about any forum, message board, social media etc. There is no safeguard that can guarantee the person you speaking to is who they say they are. I could be any age from 2 - 102 and could pretend to be that age. Its how the internet works.

Hi,

I am sorry but I have to disagree with you on this, this is not how the internet works nor is it how social networks and forums work. There is traceability and accountability of every individual on social networks and forums. There are safeguards in place, this is active by not only the details you register you account under but by your IP address. Any individual preaching hate and posting offensive comments are traceable.

Take for example the London riots where individuals posted comments on Facebook that incited other individuals to riot. They were traced, held accountable and in a number of cases jailed.

I moderate a forum and have full access to each members details including IP addresses. Any member is not only accountable for their comments but is also traceable. IP addresses can and would be provided to the authorities if ever called upon to do so. Although members are anonymous to each other, this does not mean they are under the umbrella of total anonymity.

Ask.fm on the other hand is a Latvian based website where no such traceably and accountability is in place. They operate under the conditions you have described. Nobody has ever been held accountable for the vile messages that have been directly linked to the teen suicides Ireland.

I am sorry but I am not a paranoid parent who as suddenly seen a few swear words or sexually inappropriate remarks on one of my children's Facebook page. I have looked at this site, seriously looked and I have expressed concern that there is the potential for serious psychological damage to take place to children as young as 13, due to the lack of safeguards in place, on it.

If your child as one of these accounts, then monitor it, keep a good eye on it, if you are happy they a safe, then by all means allow it to continue. I on the other hand was not happy with this site, its contents nor its lack of safeguards. This has been explained to all our kids. The accounts have now been closed and will remain closed. Fun and social interaction can be sought on many places on the net. That fun and social interaction can and apparently has very quickly become something far more sinister on this site. I prefer not to take this chance, ok?

Kevin.

System

blokecalledkev wrote: »

Hi,

I am sorry but I have to disagree with you on this, this is not how the internet works nor is it how social networks and forums work. There is traceability and accountability of every individual on social networks and forums. There are safeguards in place, this is active by not only the details you register you account under but by your IP address. Any individual preaching hate and posting offensive comments are traceable.

Take for example the London riots where individuals posted comments on Facebook that incited other individuals to riot. They were traced, held accountable and in a number of cases jailed.

I moderate a forum and have full access to each members details including IP addresses. Any member is not only accountable for their comments but is also traceable. IP addresses can and would be provided to the authorities if ever called upon to do so. Although members are anonymous to each other, this does not mean they are under the umbrella of total anonymity.

Ask.fm on the other hand is a Latvian based website where no such traceably and accountability is in place. They operate under the conditions you have described. Nobody has ever been held accountable for the vile messages that have been directly linked to the teen suicides Ireland.

I am sorry but I am not a paranoid parent who as suddenly seen a few swear words or sexually inappropriate remarks on one of my children's Facebook page. I have looked at this site, seriously looked and I have expressed concern that there is the potential for serious psychological damage to take place to children as young as 13, due to the lack of safeguards in place, on it.

If your child as one of these accounts, then monitor it, keep a good eye on it, if you are happy they a safe, then by all means allow it to continue. I on the other hand was not happy with this site, its contents nor its lack of safeguards. This has been explained to all our kids. The accounts have now been closed and will remain closed. Fun and social interaction can be sought on many places on the net. That fun and social interaction can and apparently has very quickly become something far more sinister on this site. I prefer not to take this chance, ok?

Kevin.

Sorry but I disagree with you. The facebook rioters were basically idiots who posted a joke post on facebook. As they didn't realise it was illegal they made no effort at all to disguise their IP address so were easily identified.

If you are using the internet for illegal activity there are relatively easy steps you can follow to disguise your IP address and location. This makes it very hard for you to be identified. Plus even if they don't disguise it I don't see how that helps.

If someone sets up a fake facebook account in a kids name and then starts messaging children. No checks are made on who that person is. Its only later if they break the law that traces can be made. Which frankly is probably too late.

blokecalledkev

Robin_TBW wrote: »

Firstly, it is possible to select a setting that makes it so only others who have signed up can contact you.

Secondly, you might want to ban her from Tumblr too. They have a question asking facility on there also. But then you might want to ban her from Facebook and Twitter too as anyone can create a fake account and say whatever they want. But then you can do that with email also so you may want to ban her from email. People will always find a way, the more obstacles you put out there, the more savvy they'll get to things they need to do to get around them.

Hi,

Come on, I am not banning my kids from social interaction on the net. I actively encourage it. I have simply come across one site, which I personally disapprove off. As such, I have asked my kids to close that account.

Kevin.

Mista_C

goater78 wrote: »

If someone sets up a fake facebook account in a kids name and then starts messaging children. No checks are made on who that person is. Its only later if they break the law that traces can be made. Which frankly is probably too late.

Exactly, currently I'm this guy...

blokecalledkev

goater78 wrote: »

Sorry but I disagree with you. The facebook rioters were basically idiots who posted a joke post on facebook. As they didn't realise it was illegal they made no effort at all to disguise their IP address so were easily identified.

If you are using the internet for illegal activity there are relatively easy steps you can follow to disguise your IP address and location. This makes it very hard for you to be identified. Plus even if they don't disguise it I don't see how that helps.

If someone sets up a fake facebook account in a kids name and then starts messaging children. No checks are made on who that person is. Its only later if they break the law that traces can be made. Which frankly is probably too late.

Hi,

I hear what you are saying and I naturally agree with you. Fake email addresses, accounts and proxy IP addresses have been around as long as the net as been around. Of course people will do this to protect their identities. People who hide behind proxy IP addresses believe (actually wrongly) that they are safe from being identified. They are actually mistaken there is very sophisticated software in place to identify individuals. Of course people who actually do use different IP addresses are vastly more difficult to trace but not impossible. If somebody believed they could set up a fake account and hide behind a proxy IP address and then start stalking and grooming children on Facebook, they would quickly discover they could not.

Of course the London rioter kids made no attempt to disguise their identity because they thought they were anonymous, they also found out they were not. Rightly or wrongly they were traced and held accountable. There are many examples of people who thought they could post anonymous comments on social networks only to find out that they could and maybe should be held accountable later.

I again apologies but this, is not what is happening on Ask.fm. There is no need for fake email addresses or proxy IP addresses. The site itself, as far as I can see, offers complete anonymity to users, including children as young as 13. This is where I have the issue.

Anyway look I have posted enough comments on this and this will be my last one. Rightly or wrongly I have highlighted this site and my course of action upon discovering it.

Thank you for your comments and to everybody that took the time to comment.

Kevin.

securityguy

blokecalledkev wrote: »

Hi,
Of course people will do this to protect their identities. People who hide behind proxy IP addresses believe (actually wrongly) that they are safe from being identified. They are actually mistaken there is very sophisticated software in place to identify individuals.

So you'll need "very sophisticated" counter-measures, such as "Go to coffee shop. Buy drink for cash. Ask if you can use the WiFi."

It's unlikely that this very sophisticated method would resist the full resources of the state if you were, for example, carrying a nuclear weapon and being chased around New York by George Clooney and Nicole Kidman. However, for any situation which doesn't involve real-time network monitoring and a mobilised special forces group, it's good enough.