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Officials warn against disclosing student information on social media
Leanne DeRosa is reporting for CBS6-Albany as students head back to school, social media timelines are being flooded with photos of children holding homemade posters that list their name, age, school, grade, teacher’s name, interests and more. Germantown Central School District’s School Resource Deputy Teddy Blank is warning parents to avoid the trend. “In the beginning [it] seemed like a good idea, it's interactive, it gets a lot of likes and shares on the internet, but it also can get a lot of predators and people who are looking to benefit for themselves by using that simple information...” Blank said. He said concerns are raised with sharing information, not just from posting a student's photo. Blank strongly urges parents to avoid sharing details like name, date of birth, school information or personal interests. He said to also make sure the photo does not show house numbers or street signs. Some of the details could lead to identity theft, password breaches orin the worse case scenario, abduction or other safety concerns. “It could be used as a manipulation technique if a child is presented with those tidbits of information that could cause them to trust an unknown adult,” Blank said. Benjamin Yankson, an Assistant Professor at UAlbany’s College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cyber Security reminds parents to check the privacy policies and privacy settings on social media platforms. On some platforms, like Facebook for example, if they still want to post pictures, they can choose who sees it, he said. Read the full story at cbs6albany [dot] com.