Big Brother is already ruling our roads (see Maryland), and now it looks like he's got our Internets, too.
It was no big surprise to read that high school security forces are monitoring students' Facebook and MySpace pages.
But for kids who have grown up with online social networks being a big part of their lives, it could be a shock to the system to find out they are being tracked by more than just their BFFs.
Take this student, for example:
"I think it's an invasion of the student's privacy," said Sarah Steinberg, 18, a senior at Robinson Secondary. She said her mother had access to her Facebook account and kept an eye on her online interactions. But she said there was a difference between the forgiving glance of a parent and the potentially more consequential surveillance of a police officer. "It's outside of school, and I just don't think it should be part of the school's job to do that," she said.
Her mother agreed: "I believe it's a parent's job," Judy Ottosen said.
It's refreshing to hear that a parent is that into what his or her child is doing online, but it's also a fact of life that the Internet is open to anyone, and if your security settings aren't high enough, you're basically asking the entire world to follow you online.
For some kids, that's a great way to get attention. And security forces are eating it up, claiming it helps solve crimes and avoids larger, more serious incidents, like gang fights.
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"It's crazy, the things they put on there," Loudoun County Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson said. "They seem to think they're invisible."
Simpson said some of his deputies, like authorities elsewhere, proactively track student profiles. That disturbs some of those being monitored.
Invasion of privacy? Not if you let it happen.
So kids, close the security loopholes on your profiles if you don't want the cops (and college admissions offices) checking you out. And if you don't, we don't want to hear it when you get busted for selling your anxiety drugs through your Facebook group.
