Freedom of Speech on the Internet.....sometimes with consequences attached.

Last January 13 students from Eden Prairie High School were punished when pictures of them drinking and partying were taken from someone's Facebook and given to school officials anonymously on a disc. A few days later 4 students at Woodbury High were disciplined for partying pictures of them taken from Facebook. This time, however, a student took the pictures off the website, used them in a powerpoint on drinking, showed the powerpoint in health class and now the kids in the pics are in trouble.
If you thought what you post on the Internet is safe, think again.
What many young people may not realize is the long term consequences of networking sites. "It's an electronic trail right now. And it can be found by college administrators, by potential employers, by friends, by grandparents, by people who you don't want to see some of the mistakes you've made," Media Specialist John Rash.

"It's becoming increasingly common for schools or potential employers to check social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and to penalize kids or other people for what they find," said William McGeveran, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and expert on data privacy.

"Facebook is largely a public space. Users don't always perceive it that way, but that's what it is," McGeveran said.

Employers check?? In an interview with Tim DeMello, owner of Internet company Ziggs,
when DeMello was asked if he does an Internet search for online profiles when he chooses whom to hire, he replies, "Of course. Everybody does."

DeMello estimates that about 20 percent of companies are secretly scanning online profiles before they interview applicants.

"Within a short period of time, you could find these 83 photos on every search engine on the Web, and these 83 photos could be attached to your name for the rest of your career," says DeMello.

An Ottawa , Canada grocery store (Farm Boy) fired two employees after they read postings on a Facebook groups called " I Got Farm Boy'd" The employees had talked about stealing merchandise from the store. One of the employees spoke out and denied stealing from the store. He said the post was only hypothetical.

A minimum wage Argos employee in the UK was fired for gross misconduct after he vented on Facebook about a frustrating day at work.

A 29-year-old police officer from Ohio was fired from his department after he posted photos of evidence from criminal cases and of the speedometer of a police car going 100 mph on MySpace; he was the subject of a recent ABC News story.

People across the country have been fired for “not living up to the moral code of the company,” Stacey Elderbroom, co-creator of the “Protect Your Privates” campaign, said.

Last May, LSU swimmers Eddie Kenney and Matt Coenen were kicked off the team after athletics officials discovered they belonged to a Facebook affinity group that put up disparaging comments about swim coaches.

Loyola University Chicago is forbidding its athletes from belonging. Loyola athletics director John Planek says he ordered athletes off the site to protect them from gamblers, agents or sexual predators who could learn about them, or contact them, through their profiles. It is also an image issue for schools. Schools could be deeply embarrassed if underage star athletes are seen on a website drinking from a beer bong.

Officials at the University of Oxford are using Facebook to find — and fine — students that engaged in a spasm of "trashings," rowdy revels after exams end that include dousing classmates in foam, eggs and flour.

Disciplinary officials at Oxford scanned Facebook, found pictures of the rowdies and have begun e-mailing students fines equivalent to about $85 to $210 for breaking campus rules.

So...it is not just high schools using Facebook and Myspace to gather info. From what I read it sounds like coaches are just starting to use Myspace and Facebook as a place to keep tabs on their athletes. Employers look at it. It sounds like you have to be careful what you post--even if your account is set to private. Thoughts??????