Parenting Tech: Hidden Dangers - Opsec vs Sharenting.

We take pride in our children, and try to protect them. What if what we do, actually makes them less safe? Banning things, like cell phones, computers, just doesn't work anymore, since a burner phone can be had for under $50.

As parents we can equip our children with what to do, what to avoid.
I would caution watching your approach, to not have them push away or shut down. Don't make learning a punishment, or a source of anxiety. Make learning a joy, and you will receive respect for keeping them safe through knowledge.

If your family uses social media:

1. 💬 Have a real discussion. Not just once.
   Calmly and respectfully explain the situation, and why. Prepare first, have examples, news articles, how it happened. Let them ask questions.
   Yes, I did say respect your kids, because that's how you teach them how to be respectful. If they aren't respectful, there's consequences when a line is crossed. Basic parenting.
2. 👀 Do not EVER assume that your data is private, on another company's system.
   Sorry, cloud enthusiasts....
   Encrypted? You only put a countdown on how long it might take to read that data, if someone really wanted.
3. 🔒 Check privacy settings on every post, before submission.
   Social media privacy levels sometimes end up set to what we don't want it to be. We thought that post was for friends only, or specific people. One photo, made public, and viewers are 100% anonymous. Screen scraping can instantly pick up that which isn't locked down.
4. 🔍 Watch your own content, and police it for safety.
   A happy and proud parent might post a video or photo at an event, or at home, of something cute their kid might have done, but one single post can create danger.
   
   Consider looking at how a bad actor might use: Invisible, and Visible metadata.
   1. 🍼 Knowledge of who is in the photo, and if there's sensitive behavior.
      If you're a hunter/2nd amendment person, teaching your kids safety rules.... some platforms, schools, jurisdictions may be hostile to the Constitution, and can leverage that photo against you.
      (There has been cases of this happening to innocent people.)
   2. 📍 Private info like your house number in the background of a photo.
      Scrub location tags from photos and posts. You do not want a public photo identifying your home, school, or place that you/your kids frequent.
   3. 🔃 Your routine.
      If you are out, but kids are at home, a predator might try to take advantage.
   4. ️🛰️ Live GPS Tracking.
      Life360 is great, but also be aware of who has permissions to view. Also consider, there are sophisticated hacks and misuses/breaches of that data too. Buyer beware, although it could be used as a valid safety tool.

If an agency can build a profile from your social media public posts, of you, your routines, so can a predator.

It isn't just social media, but equip them for the world.

🧱 Build a firewall, of what to do when there's stranger danger.
Online and in the real world.
We want to lay a foundation, by teaching/mentoring, and encouraging them to choose good over evil when we aren't around.
The goal: Long, happy life, so that we in turn can enjoy their presence.

🚔 Invest in education on crime, how to avoid it, how to identify it, and stay safe.

In high school, I took one of those "fill a slot elective" course, called "Teens, Crime, and the Community." While the tone of the course was a bit patronizing, it included training that allows me to read signs of people: in distress (physically/mentally), narcotics users, victims, and how to tell if a predator or violent person is in the room.

I learned in this course, that self defense is OK.

🛡️ Understand civics and Constitutional rights and how to best exercise them, not just "submit to everything."

I know what you're thinking. "Comply and trust the police."
That isn't the world we live in anymore.

I've watched in disgust, multiple news/Youtube videos where children are treated terribly by abusive police officers. Sometimes, because an AI got it wrong.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/t9Hsdr8OO94

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYEUTj9MGFA

Just in the past 2-3 years alone, there have been a litany of arrests of officers for various offenses and scandals in Alabama law enforcement alone. (See Walker County Jail Freezer, Hanceville Evidence, Brookside DUI, Cherokee County, Cordova sexual harassment.)

The goal is to stay alive, follow the law, but don't help them investigate or harm your case, and follow up and do battle in court - not on the street (where you will lose).
Note that they might also lie about the law to compel you to talk as well. It is legal for them to lie, but not for you to lie.

The best thing to do, is identify, and say nothing else.
If you are pulled over, not free to just walk away, you are detained and under investigation as a suspect, even if you are innocent. Don't talk yourself into a corner.

Don't believe me? Look at the news, Google it, Youtube it.
There's constantly people grievously injured for smaller and smaller things, made up and false charges, and a general disregard for humanity and life all over the news and Youtube.

The world isn't what it once was. The institutions we grew up trusting as millennials, like government, churches, are not the same.
Alabama, is not the same, and is in need of some...help.

Even in my local town there has been failures of government to do the right thing, in several incidents in the past 5 years.

1. A volunteer firefighter setting properties on fire. The firefighter-arsonist was allowed in the department by a fire chief, did so knowing about the past felonies he already had. There was video of him.
   *This dude was out in 24 hours.
2. Relative working in town government used governmental power (zoning ordinance) to intimidate people that they thought reported the arsonist-firefighter.
   *That person resigned.
3. Town officials tried to stop an election when a mayoral candidate challenged the incumbent.
   *The incumbent 'won'
4. Town officials disabled public comment on social media, for the sole purpose of stopping election discussion (not content-neutral, violated law).
   *Comments still off.
5. A problematic person was being unsafe with firearms, wasn't supposed to have firearms, but the county sheriff wouldn't deal with him because of a gate....
   Until the man beat his dad, stole an AK47, held off 14 deputies, a drone, a helicopter. SWAT captured the man.
   *This dude is back on the street, and still has that AK47, felon in possession.
6. A DUI wreck occurred, on video surveillance, and was a neighbor that parked a couple houses down. County sheriff refused to investigate that night.
   *The pieces of that vehicle left in my hard fit like a glove, and the power pole still wobbles quite a lot!