Point, Click, Stalk?

By Robin Sax and Guest Contributor Melissa Alonzo Kriz

Ever pass by a building or landmark, wonder what it is, and wish you could find out right on the spot? Now you can -- with the click of your phone's camera and the launch of "Goggles," a new image-recognition technology that instantly provides pictures and information based on a single photo. The beta (still in testing) application was developed by Google to run on the Android operating system, also developed by Google for mobile devices.

This remarkable visual search technology soon will be expanded to allow a user to take a mobile-phone picture of an item (work of art, book, plant, etc.), then instantly search for similar images and information about the object on the Internet. As our technological capabilities increase exponentially, we might all say this was inevitable. We might be comfortable with how we'll use the new programs for fun and for good. 

But a pause is necessary.

Imagine you are at the gym or the grocery store, and a creep sidles up and manages to take a picture of you with his cell phone. Within seconds, using this image-recognition technology, he would have access to your photos on Facebook and find your name, where you work and live, and any other information about you that exists in cyberspace. That's a scary prospect. 

Take it one step further: What happens when predator aims his camera at a child on the playground? The predator would have access to similar images of the child on the web; they could lead to the child's name, school and possibly home address.

Goggles is currently limited to letting users find and learn about inanimate objects. However, technologies (including a yet-unreleased component of Goggles itself) already exist that use similar methods to crawl the web looking for images containing facial characteristics of people. The photos could be culled from your employer's public website, online community newsletters, schools' and universities' sites, Facebook and other social-networking sites, and any other public area on the web where your photo may reside (even without your knowledge).

Google has taken some heat for privacy concerns on some of its services, so for now it is holding off from releasing the facial-recognition aspect of Goggles. However, other software developers are already delivering mobile and web applications containing facial-recognition technology. Just look at your iPhoto if you are a Mac user.

The Swedish company The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) is currently testing a product called Recognizr. The TAT product allows a user to snap a photo of anyone in public, select the "recognize" button, and then receive photos and information about that person from social networking sites. TAT does have privacy policies; they offer an opt-in provision (or permission) from the subject of the photo in order for Recognizr to work. 

But TAT doesn't plan to offer its service directly to consumers. Instead, it will make the technology available to mobile-phone makers and phone-service provides so they can develop their own applications.These companies may or may not choose to follow TAT's privacy standards.

Face.com, an Israeli company, also has developed several products that include facial-recognition technology. Developers will be able to use and expand upon its services. One Face.com product, CelebrityFinder, uses facial recognition technology to pull all photos (and lookalikes) of a celebrity from Twitter feeds. Face.com is in the process of enhancing the face detection function to include profile poses. Face.com privacy policies say the use of its product may not violate user privacy, and that users must inform their subjects that they've been tagged and provide them the ability to remove those tags. I feel safe already.

The bottom line is that the facial recognition technology is already here. We live in a "point, click, and stalk" world. So how can we protect ourselves, and our families, from stalkers who'll use this technology to their criminal advantage? It is unlikely we can pass an enforceable law making it a crime to take a non-celebrity's photo in public, even if the photo taken is of a child.

Perhaps federal legislation could be aimed at the technology companies and mobile phone carriers? We could demand strong, mandatory privacy policies for the facial-recognition software from Face.com, TAT, and other developers as a pre-condition of sale or use. While this type of legislation wouldn't guarantee protection from illicit use of this potentially creepy technology, it would assist in increasing consumer awareness. Most of all, we must hold those who develop, host, and use the technology accountable so we can prevent the next wave of cyber-stalking before it begins.

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by Robin Sax

As we here at WOMEN IN CRIME know, it’s not just the facts, ma’am. It’s about where to find the facts and sometimes where to find the fiction. Many of us are looking for specific information but get sidetracked by useless websites with shoddy information.

Gone are the days of going to the library, standing on a stepstool, flipping through the card catalog, and being limited to how many books you could check out based on how big your biceps were. Now, with a few simple key strokes, anybody who wants to know anything is just a few clicks away. If you don’t believe me, Just ask Jeeves.com.

We live in a brave new world of research. The World Wide Web has changed the landscape for information-gathering for everyone, from writers to lawyers to criminals.

“Googling” is now a verb. Need to know about a particular person? Google him. Need to know about an issue? Google it.Looking for an old friend? Try Myspace, Facebook, Reunion, or Classmates. Need a professional or just want to network? How about Linkedin? Want to stay connected to friends, keep track of birthdays and special events? Try Plaxo, Birthdayreminder, and don’t forget Naymz!

The Internet can augment almost anyone’s library resources by providing alternate copies of print materials, as well as information that can’t be found in print or electronic formats.

Here are some examples of the resources that are on the Internet that may be difficult to find in a library: census information, uniform and model acts; news; publishers' catalogs; worldwide library catalogs; tables of contents of journals; full texts of articles from electronic law and non-law journals; books (such as the classics); bookstores (Barrister Books [academic textbooks], Amazon, etc.); song lyrics; comic strips; tax forms; sports information (such as professional baseball and basketball players' salaries and other basketball information); travel information; legal documents (transcripts of hearings, reports, briefs, memoranda, complaints, indictments, oral arguments, etc.).

As the Internet expands and people get more creative, they need to find new ways to find information. I have outlined some of the new(er) and different places to find information online. If you haven’t seen or heard of any of these sites, you are depriving your clients, your victims, your society, your readers, and yourself of a whole new dimension of the great galaxy known as the World Wide Web.

And now for some research tidbits:

CIA: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html -- How could a crime writer ignore this site? No crime website is complete unless it has a link to the Central Intelligence Agency. We use its 2008 CIA World Factbook (updated frequently) as a source of information about the countries of the world. See also "Maps" below.

Copyscape: http://www.copyscape.com -- "Copyscape makes it easy to find copies of your content on the Web. Simply type in the address of your web page. Copyscape will find sites that have copied your content without permission, as well as those that have quoted you." Copyscape is a free service; premium services are also available.

Dogpile: http://www.dogpile.com -- "Dogpile puts the power of all the leading search engines--Google, Yahoo, MSN Live Search, and Ask.com--together in one search box to deliver the best combined results. The process is more efficient and yields specific results. Dogpile was named top consumer search engine by J.D. Power & Associates for 2007."

Fazzle: http://www.fazzle.com – Similar to Google, perhaps an up-and-comer.

Newspapers: http://www.newspapers.com -- Answers everybody’s question: "What in the world is going on?" You can literally search thousands of newspapers online, including the abroad.

Ice Rocket: http://www.icerocket.com/ - Want to search myspace, facebook, and all socializing websites at once? This site takes people and profile searching to a whole new level.

Justice Interrupted: http://www.justiceinterrupted.blogspot.com -- Your one-stop shop for victims' advocacy presented with the honest breath of fresh air. Stacy, Susan, and Robin host a weekly radio show, advocate for victims, educate the community, and help in the investigation of crime.

Perez Hilton: http://www.perezhilton. com - Advertised as “Hollywood's Most-Hated Web Site,” it’s a place to get to get scoop, gossip, and rumors. No need to buy the National Enquirer here.

Radio locator: http://www.radio-locator.com/ -- "the most comprehensive radio station search engine on the internet. We have links to over 10,000 radio station web pages and over 2,500 audio streams from radio stations in the U.S. and around the world."

Rotten Tomatoes: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ -- Need to know what’s shakin’ in THE “industry?” Though one of the busiest homepages in the biz, it's not as negative as it sounds.

Scared Monkeys: http://www.scaredmonkeys.com/ -- No spin, no b.s., just good people reporting on the most interesting and intriguing news.

Search Engine Watch: www.searchenginewatch.com -- Search Engine Watch covers it all: news, headlines, reviews, tools, blogs, forums, listings, ratings, stats, resources, newsletters, reports.

Snopes: http://www.snopes.com — “Send this email to ten people and Bill Gates will give you a brand new computer”; “Your car will blow up if you’re pumping gas while on a cell phone”; etc. We all get these emails everyday, but are they true or just fear-making? Only Snopes has the answers to these questions and other urban legends.

TMZ: http://www.tmz.com -- I give you permission to visit this site in the name of doing “research,” but we all know the real reason is to see if Angelina is pregnant or if Britney and Kevin are getting back together.

Wikipedia: http://www.wikipedia.com -- In their words, this is “the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. Over 7 million articles in over 200 languages, and still growing.”

Zillow: http://www.zillow.com -- Are you buying, selling, or simply snooping for house values? The market is changing and zillow keeps you in the know.

The sites I’ve mentioned are by no means flawless, but they are interesting, often informative places to find information and new ideas. Regardless of what you find, you must always evaluate the information. Some of the questions you should ask in assessing the site’s credibility and integrity are:

1) What is the source of the information?

Is the author known? On what authority does the author write -- what are his or her credentials? Who sponsors the website?

2) Is there author bias?

What is the intent or purpose of the website ? Is the motivation of the website profit? accurate news? propaganda? scholarly information? Does the material appear biased in any way, or is it fairly objective?

3) How reliable does the information appear to be within the website?

How does the material compare to related sources, such as published books or journal articles?

4) How up-to-date or time-sensitive is the information?

How current does the information appear to be? How often is the website updated?

5) What type of reviewing process exists on or about the site?

Are there professional reviews available for the website?

It’s no wonder that people turn to the Internet as a source of information. And why not? It’s a cheap alternative to the use of commercial databases. It is varied and plentiful, not to mention a lot quicker than a trip to the library, unless your research turns into a shopping jaunt.

Speaking of shopping, if you’re like me and thrive on new finds, great contacts, and amazing resources, visit http://robinsax.com/saxfactsweekly.html for Robin’s latest discovery. In the legal realm, “discovery” is part of the pre-trial litigation process when each side requests relevant information and documents from the other to "discover" pertinent facts.

I have made discovery my hobby. Whether you need to know how to scout for a nanny, where to buy the best holiday gifts, when there is a great sale, how to locate an affordable web designer, or find someone who can notarize your trust at three in the morning, I am your source.

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