For Immediate Release
Frederick Lane
Author, Educational Consultant, Lecturer
802-318-4604
Burlington, VT — Frederick Lane, an
expert on Internet privacy and social media and the author of “American Privacy: The 400-Year-History of Our Most
Contested Right,” was interviewed this afternoon (10/7) on CNN Newsroom by anchor
Brooke Baldwin. The interview aired live at 3:25pm EST.
Lane was contacted by CNN to discuss the recent controversy at Duke
University, in which a female student used PowerPoint to create a mock “thesis”
detailing her liaisons with and ratings of various Duke athletes in explicit
detail. The author forwarded the PowerPoint to just three friends, but one of
them (of course!) forwarded it to someone else, and so on. The fake “thesis” is
now one of the most popular topics on Google, Twitter, and Facebook.
“This is a topic that I lecture to students about frequently,” Lane says.
“Most don’t really realize how easily and how quickly electronic information can
spread. Even fewer really appreciate how permanent electronic information can
be. Yes, a single copy can be deleted, but when something starts spreading on
the Internet, it’s virtually impossible to locate and delete every copy of an
image or a file.”
The Duke University incident underscores the need to educate students at all
levels, from elementary school through college, about how the Internet works,
how easily information can spread, and the moral and ethical boundaries of
publishing information about others. With the average age of cell phone
ownership dropping below 10, these are issues that affect the very youngest
students on up.
For information about Lane’s publications and speaking services, please visit
http://www.FrederickLane.com
.
To contact Frederick Lane to arrange an interview about the Duke incident,
the recent Rutgers tragedy, or other issues of student privacy and social media,
please e-mail him at FSLane3@gmail.com or call
802-318-4604.
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