'Cyber tailing' becoming a social problem

'Cyber tailing' becoming a social problem

"We must punish the murderers by searching out and spreading their parents' identity, occupation, workplace and their detailed address on the Internet. The main culprit's photo is prerequisite. Is there anyone who is brave enough to do so?" This is a posting put on the online board, just after a middle school boy in Daegu committed suicide. He was known to have suffered from bullying. Soon after, an unidentified person uploaded personal information of the bullies -- and even their parents and friends -- on the Internet, and they were obliged to suffer from netizens' bad-mouthing. A photo of President Lee Myung-bak and his granddaughter was released by Cheong Wa Dae on Jan 21. It first aimed to show the ordinary person-like behavior of the President, during his visit to Tongin Market in northern Seoul, but the photo led to criticism of him for his grandchild's padded jumper. Netizens put comments like "The same jumper for adult costs -- about three million won" and "It's a product from Italian luxury brand, Moncler." When a controversial issue appears, similar malicious debates on the specific person involved are repeated daily. Since many netizens commonly use social network services (SNS) in their daily life coupled with advanced search engines, privacy such as an ordinary person's private postings, cell phone number and family affairs are disclosed in detail on the Internet. Recently, some netizens have attacked celebrities, checking manufacturers and prices of garments and handbags they are wearing and carrying. For tailing one's personal information, a search engine like Google is mainly used. If typing one's ID which is found with the search engine as a search word in the search box of a portal, you can easily find the posting he or she put on the Internet. From the information put on the postings, such as address and birthdate, it is possible to find out a targeted person. “Cyber tailing” first appeared through a specific gallery of users of “DC Inside,” a site which has great influence upon Korean Internet culture, and amateur hackers. The named themselves cyber investigators nicknamed “Co-Chalcheong” (a compound of DC Inside's Comedy gallery and Gyeongchalcheong, or National Police Agency in Korean), or “Co-Jeongwon” (a compound of Comedy gallery and Gukjeongwon, or National Intelligence Service). They even have their own search engine called “Co-gle” (a compound of Comedy gallery and Google). "It is possible to find out about 70 percent of the information on an individual through Google, but using Co-gle enables us to find out more details because it's exquisitely designed for searching," one of the net users said. "There is even a guideline like 'Elderly person often uses ID of his or her Korean name directly typed in English keyboard." What is worse, a hacking tool is used to extract personal information from shopping mall sites, which have vulnerable to information security. What makes people thoroughly search for personal information and spread it? "It becomes a kind of game to put socially noted persons on the Internet, and then punish them in a cyber 'court,'" said a 28-year-old interviewee who once had an experience of cyber tailing. "When the information has a great impact on the Internet, they feel proud of themselves." "People who are socially isolated, suffering from deep anxiety and of low self-esteem tend to find their influence in the cyberspace by showing off them," analyzed Hwang Sang-min, the psychology professor at Yonsei University. The problem is that this kind of phenomenon usually carries groundless rumors combined with an individual's opinion and voyeurism. Controversy over writer Gong Ji-young carrying a Chanel bag and an argument about the price of the padded jumper which President Lee's granddaughter put on are well-known cases. "They doubt the truth, while trusting doubt with confidence," said online writer Jin Joong-kwon earlier over the 'Tajinyo' incident, the controversy upon Korean singer Tablo's academic achievement. Some netizens detailed his personal information excessively and distorted facts.