Move to criminalise cyber-stalking

More than 80 MPs are calling for an overhaul of stalking laws in a move that could see cyber-stalking made an offence.

The MPs, from all parties, also want police to prioritise complaints of stalking and say the crime needs to be defined in law.

Statistics released by probation union Napo, ahead of a seminar at the Houses of Parliament, show that just 2.2% of all incidences of harassment recorded by police ended in a jail sentence.

Napo said that in 2009 there were 53,000 offences of harassment recorded by police, leading to 6,581 convictions. Out of those convicted, 18.5% were jailed, the union said.

The latest figures from the British Crime Survey showed that up to five million people experienced stalking or harassment every year.

A Napo spokesman said: "It is clear therefore that a very small proportion actually reach court and even fewer receive a custodial sentence."

He added: "The sentencing guidelines need to be reviewed as a matter of urgency. Many victims report that complaints are not investigated thoroughly by the police and prosecutors."

Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru's Parliamentary Leader, is chairing the Justice Unions' Parliamentary Group seminar. Speakers will include Carol Faruqui and Tricia Bernal, who founded Protection Against Stalking after their daughters were killed. The charity's director of operations Laura Richards will also speak at the event to give guidance to MPs whose constituents are being stalked.

The Napo spokesman said stalking is a "life-changing" event in victims' lives, and added: "Stalking is not defined in law, only harassment is. The police have limited powers to enter and search premises of arrested stalkers. Cyber-stalking, which is now common, is not covered by the Protection from Harassment Act 1997."

A leaflet offering advice to MPs on the subject of stalking, both in person and over the internet, will be launched at the event.

[London Evening Standard]

Creepy Stalks Twitter, Foursquare, and Flickr Users by Aggregating GPS Data

Windows/Linux: If you've ever doubted how much anyone could track you based on information embedded in geolocation services like Foursquare, Twitter, and Flickr, free app Creepy will show you by aggregating GPS coordinates for any user, pointing out their most frequented hangouts on a map.

Let's say you wanted to know where a specific Twitter, Foursquare, or Flickr user spends the majority of her time; Creepy lives up to its name by showing you. Just type in any username for a supported service and it will grab any and all location data it can find, from Foursquare check-ins, tweet locations, and even the EXIF data from photos posted to Flickr, Twitpic, yFrog, and other image services. Essentially, it's a stalker's dream app.

Like previously mentioned Firesheep extension for Firefox, consider this app as more as an interesting proof-of-concept (we trust you to use it for good!). Perhaps you didn't realize how accurately your tweets can pinpoint your house or favorite hangouts, or perhaps you didn't even know you were sharing location data in all your uploaded photos (easy to remove if you know how). Punch in your own accounts and see how much shows up—you might be surprised.

Creepy is a free download for Windows and Linux.

Creepy

[Gizmodo]