TORONTO, CANADA – A recent column in the Globe and Mail newspaper considers whether we have really become a surveillance society – or whether it only seems that way because in living an online life we willingly give up our privacy. The column points out that it’s not surveillance cameras we necessarily need to worry about – it’s our desire to share online, which allows just about anyone to access pictures of us as well as our personal information. Writer Hal Niedzviecki has described ours as a culture of “mass voyeurism,” a culture where we enjoy peering into other lives while allowing others to look in on ours.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the recent launch of two new online babysitting services, screening sitter’s credentials has become crucial. Online services promise comprehensive background checks of all potential babysitters as well as online scheduling of babysitting services. The idea is that the services offer added security and convenience by allowing parents to learn about potential sitters and have caregivers screened professionally. At the same time, many parents enjoy the convenience of booking caregiver time online. Some online sitting services hire PI companies to run background checks while other sites check public records and social networking sites to ensure that caregivers are safe.

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – For PIs, social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are playing an increasing role in investigations. One of the largest PI companies in Australia now hires staff specifically to search for missing persons and other fraudsters online using social networking sites. The company reports finding 30-40 debtors and felons a week through social networking sites. While the sites are useful for PIs, however, investigators have found that they need to track and find social networking criminals, many who use sites such as MySpace and FaceBook to find and lure underage children.

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NEW YORK, NY - Robert Rahn, president of Management Resources Ltd., has turned to social networking to help combat a “cold” missing person’s case. With the help of Kathy Fealy, an online marketing executive, Rahn has implemented social media tools such as Google Alerts, Facebook and MySpace pages and YouTube videos about Vernon Jones, Rahn’s cold case subject who disappeared in 1993. Rahn has noted that overtime many traditional investigative methods and media outlets can become expensive and difficult to continuously engage the general public. Now, Rahn feels current social networking tools could be a “great untapped resource.”

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MANASSAS, VA – Virginia has been hoping to compel Facebook to reveal account information in order to resolve a workers compensation case. The state has now backed down from the privacy case that many believed would go all the way to the federal court. The case began when an airline started investigating a flight attendant, Shana Hensley, as part of a workers compensation case. As part of the case, the airline subpoenaed Facebook to reveal account information and the Virginia’s Workers Compensation Commission threatened to impose a $200-a-day fine on Facebook for non-compliance. Facebook objected to the subpoena, citing reasons of privacy. Many experts note that the case shows how important social networking sites have become in investigations. PIs and companies are using the sites, which are rich in personal information, to solve cases.

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