August 13, 2010
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Stealing Online Photos
Recently someone stole the photos of a 14 year old girl on xanga and also the photos of a woman from Facebook. There was some controversy because a blogger on xanga was accused of being involved by the mother of the 14 year old girl. I want to avoid that drama so I will not mention names. In fact, I didn’t want to address the issue again. But I had already asked Amanda if she would do an interview before I said I was going to let the issue alone. So I want to do this without creating any drama.
Amanda is the woman from Facebook that had her photos stolen. So I asked her the questions below and her answers are highlighted in bold. At this stage, I think we can all just hopefully hear from a victim of the crime and hopefully learn something from the whole situation:
Amanda,
Q: How did you come to find out that your photo was being used on the xanga site?
A: I found out through a friend who happened to see it on xanga.
Q: How many people contacted you to tell you that your photo was being used?A: I had 3 people contact me to let me know what was going on. 1) an immediate friend 2) you. and 3) my best friend’s cousin who I have never even met! It was very bizarre.
Q: How did you feel when you first found out that your photo was being used by another person?A I obviously felt violated in some way… I wasn’t all too concerned until I actually saw what this person was writing… I just thought it was altogether very creepy. I know photos on the net are practically public domain.. however putting false information to real faces is an entirely different story!
Q: Did you go check it out when you heard your photo being used?
A: I did look at the site briefly. I was so disturbed that I just didn’t even want to read more, or see how many pictures this weirdo had of me.Q: I am sort of curious if it is not too personal but did you contact xanga to tell them about your photo being used?
A: I did contact xanga about my photos being used. However I could not find a phone number and could only send an email (I received no response until two days after the blog was shut down- convenient?!!?!)
Q: You may know that a 14 year old girl had her photo used in a post. What are your thoughts on that?A. If anyone posted pictures of my child, I would be furious. There are sick people out there, and there is no need to exploit anyone, especially minors. However, I also think that kids shouldn’t have facebook or be able to blog. It really only seems to bring more harm than good, especially with today’s generation.
Q: Have you changed anything about your privacy settings on the Internet in order to make your photos more protected?A: I actually just double checked my privacy settings. The pictures he had used were older, before I changed my profile to Friends Only. However, if people want to see something on the internet I know there are ways around everything.
Q: Have you learned anything through this experience that you would want to pass on to others?A: I don’t think I learned anything new, this person just confirmed what I already knew— the internet is filled with ******* (God’s name used in vain edited) weirdos with way too much time on their hands.
Q: What do you think the punishment should be for someone who steals the photos of others?
A: I don’t know the right punishment. I think whether this person is banned from the site or not doesn’t really matter. In the end, if someone sees me who read his blog, I will forever be the girl who “took her sister to an abortion clinic.” Not very flattering.
Q: What is a greater violation, having your photos used or someone writing thoughts that was pretending to be you?A: I think someone pretending to be me is way worse than just stealing pictures. We all know that anything we put on the internet is up for grabs. Someone changing my life story is invasive and sick.
Q: Had you ever heard of the person who stole your photos before this incident? Do you have any reference to him now? Do you have any idea how your photos could have been copied?A: No. I have no idea who this character is. I especially never want to know him. This behavior is very strange, and can only be best described as creepy. How or why he took my pictures? WHO CARES. He truly needs to get a life- one worth writing about.
I would like to thank Amanda for doing the interview.
This is my question to you:
What is a greater violation, having your photos used or someone writing thoughts that was pretending to be you?
Comments (64)
I’d be more offended at impersation via writing than anything else. Mostly since I had that one obsessive mimic-troll for awhile…the poor sick weirdo.
Oh yeah the internet is filled with … less than nice people. And Xanga’s management is very slow about such things, and that is putting the best spin on it.
i don’t know….both are pretty screwed up. i hope she’s doing better now.
someone pretending to be me, of course. but hopefully, the people who know me best, my best friends, will be able to spot a fraud from the real me.
I had it happen on myspace… someone msged me saying my account had been hacked and I had left comment on thier page, so I went in and clicked on the profile-pic/comment and it was not my site but anther one with my pic. I suppose sine they could not get a hold of my site, they stole my pic and then even had my sane username/title but the url/link was different. I explained it to my friend and told them to delete the comment and check the url next time. I then reported it to myspace.
I have been off xanga for weeks…I guess I missed this.
Weird and interesting.
Someone writing thoughts pretending to be me, especially if these thoughts are racist or bigoted in nature.
Imitation is not always the best form of flattery. I think impersonation is worse. Stealing photos was a part of the greater crime.
The second because the second would probably also include the first to seem in any way legitimate.
I would be way more upset with someone’s writings. If someone wants to pretend that they look like me, that’s creepy, but forgivable. But I don’t want anyone using my name/face with THEIR words.
Even with all the trojans and virus’, this era of internet history is like the old days when people left their doors unlocked. One day, when it’s all regimented and pay-per-view, we will look back and call these the good old days, and wonder how more of us weren’t ripped off blind.
somebody pretending to be me would be weirder..ew..thats creepy
He was at #2 give or take on the Front Page just a day or so ago. That means Xanga management and Xangans themselves give the perp their full support. That’s even more worrisome then what he did.
Someone actually pretending to be me. But in my opinion, you can’t really do the photo-stealing without having the element of pretending to be the subject. So, that would also be violating.
I thought we were done with this? Hmmmmmmmmmmm
And yet people are still buying the bullshit lies from vanedave and wanting the filthy pervert to stay. Sad, how people enjoy being deceived, or think it’s no big deal.
that’s pretty messed up. I guess the changing of life story and writing. but jacking a person’s pictures for anything is pretty uncool.
Someone pretending to be me. Much worse.
Esp. if people you know in passing come across it, before you have any idea about.
I think someone writing and pretending to be me would be a lot more dangerous. The person could say something hurtful or even slanderous and they’d think I was responsible. I’d hate that. I think if someone stole a photo of me and used it inappropriately, at least I’d be the only victim. If someone stole a picture of one of my kids and used it inappropriately, I’d be out for blood.
Someone pretending to be me. I would be flattered, but also verrrryyyyy creeped out.
Both are bad. I wouldn’t like to argue the difference.
Both are despicable. But the lowest was using a 14 yr old’s pic.
That was unforgivable in my opinion.
I’m very confused…
Either way is bad. There’s actually another person on xanga (AshleyxGirl) that’s using one of my classmates pictures, but I haven’t confronted her about it yet.
Wow. Creepy.
@macphoto - This just keeps going on and on..
I’ve had someone clone my whole blog before, Dan.
The pretending. That is just wrong.
I’d be freaked out if someone attempted to impersonate me online.
what’s the big fuss?
Live Video Stream or GTFO!
Impersonation. Reputation is important; if mine is ruined, let it be because of something I did, not because of someone pretending to be me.
I think it’s more violating to have someone write thoughts as if they were my own.
Someone wrote, pretending to be me.
@macphoto - just thank god you did.
@hilaw - send me a PM…what happened?
I feel both having someone use my pictures as well as miscaption my personality is both equally violating.
Enter My choice to not show my face.
Either way is a form of impersonation. Anyone who takes anyone’s stuff, even their writings, and disseminates it, only to hurt others and take their writings/pictures/whatever out of context and use them only for their own strange, evil plots is a sick, sick person indeed, who obviously doesn’t have a life or anything better to do with their time. Most stuch stuff is illegal, just as cyberbullying is now illegal.
I wouldn’t like someone taking my photos without my knowledge and using them as their own.
They can try and be me, but they will fail… miserably.
Both are horrible. I had a personal ad on a website in 1997 (my first mistake). I had sent a few pics to someone who respnded.(my second mistake). A couple of weeks later I responded to an ad and I received my own pictures as a reply! I was freaked out! I am now very careful about pics I post and I would never, never send my pics to a stranger.
Someone stole my pictures on Myspace three years ago. I was 16. I messaged them like “…hi?” and they said it was just “roleplay because I’m so pretty.”
I wasn’t disturbed at all. I didn’t feel like a victim. More than anything, I was confused as to why they’d choose me. I’m not that great looking and REALLY not that interesting. I didn’t freak out or anything, it wasn’t that serious to me.
Both are pretty damn creepy…
Aren’t they basically the same thing?
If they’re using your picture, then they’re pretending they’re you.
Both suck!
Anyone who reads my site knows where I stand on this. Taking someone’s pics they have published online isn’t a crime, but it also isn’t a good idea. Most people would be annoyed by it.
Taking somone’s pics and telling the world “That’s me!” and then attaching your thoughts and ideas to it is a form of identity theft, except in this scenario you are creating a false identity for the person in the pics instead of benefiting from their real one. It is still a crime.
Now having said that, let me also say this …
I don’t fully understand why Dave did what he did. I don’t think Dave understands it either. But I do know this – Dave has apologized to me profusely and he has since then made a concerted effort to get to know me, removed from that whole Sass incident. In the past few weeks Dave and I have spoken over the phone and communicated extensively in a lengthy message thread and he has actually started reading my site.
It would have been easier for Dave to avoid interacting with me like the plague since I am a painful reminder of a terrible decision he once made, but he doesn’t. He wants to talk to me. He is invested in working through this with me showing me who he really is. To me that speaks volumes for his true character.
(Dan, I’m glad you wrote this interview. I think it’s important that people consider the perspective of the victim.)
Ok if they are on the internet I feel they are fair game. But then I would hate for my kids photo to be used too. HMMM this made me think.
Someone pretending to be me.
Um…I think the writing and pretending to be me. Honestly…I wouldn’t be okay with either thing. I’d be pretty pissed.
Thanks for sticking your neck out for this young lady. So many people these days don’t do anything at all so that they may “avoid drama”, but doing the right thing is often times like a punished good deed. If it matters, you definitely scored points in my book.
Beat a dead horse much? Jesus.
I think it’s weird how people steal pictures of others and then pretend to be them. It goes to show you how unhappy people are with themselves.
It happened to a friend of mine on Twitter… someone took her pictures and presented them as herself. She was beside her self with anger and confusion and didn’t know what to do, especially since this random person was claiming to be a porn star and had about 1000 followers. It could easily get back to work or to some other people she’d otherwise not socialize with. It’s really scary the type of people we have out there
I think someone writing, pretending to be me….would be worse than stealing my pics (though both are just about even in terribleness).
Why are people such cowards that they have to steal from others and pretend to be other people? It just doesn’t make sense.
Someone doing that is sick, but then again the internet is not private, so you have to use your best judgment.
Both are wrong. But using a 14 year old’s photo crossed the line. I agree with Bricker59, that’s unforgivable.
both are equally bad. people used to steal my photos on bebo all the time, and pretend to be me.. one girl even made a profile identical to my boyfriend’s, and pretend that she was dating him, along with taking all my photos… one of her friends contacted me, accused me of being a fake, so i took a timestamp pic to prove it was me… contacted bebo shortly after, also, my mother made a bebo to abuse her, so, her profile was gone within a week of me discovering it.
my photos have been used for a lot of things, for example, groups on social networking sites (particularly bebo) which talk about people having dyed hair. as you can see from the picture, i have very dyed hair. my photos are regularly used without permission, and whenever found, i have to ask admin or the person responsible to remove them. more often than not, they’re apologetic and willing to remove them.
i dont know why people steal pictures and profiles. it’s really creepy. :S
edit: the girl in this case was 14? i was 13 when the story in the first paragraph happened.
That would be scary.
I think they are equally bad to be honest.
I have a friend who has friends lock on to this day because this happened to her.
One day a friend told her about a blog where the person had posted of pics her children and claimed them as their own.
Either way, it is still a personal violation.
this “stealing” of the photos.. did anyone contact the authorities? i certainly hope they got their photos back!
:):)
if someone was posing as me online, using photos of me and identical personal identification facts then contacting my old friends and developing new friends, trolls etc.
do you think they would mind just taking over entirely? (my job,wife, in-laws.. all that?) perhaps we could work something out?
i don’t see the difference. the latter is just a subcategory of the first one; i think it’s messed up either way.
Pretense is very bad and much more impersonation. It’s totally WRONG to pretend to be someone who you are not Online. Thanks.
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