We have all seen the posts of people who need to share their current location.  They talk about the trip to Europe they will enjoy for the next two weeks,  the concert they are attending, or the restaurant where they will eat tonight.  They are sharing information with their friends.  Of course, we have talked before about controlling your security levels so you really only share with friends.  But, I suspect most people do not think of it a great deal.  So, I want to share a story.

There is a young woman in Chicago who works for Groupon, teaches rowing at one of the city’s finest Catholic high schools, and coaches a rowing team.  A few years ago she started an organization called Recovery on Water (ROW) for survivors of breast cancer.  Her mission is to provide them an opportunity to exercise because research suggests that regular exercise drops the likelihood of another tumor by half.  It seems like a good cause with a regular membership that exercises together and supports one another in their challenge.

This summer the founder decided she would row the perimeter of Lake Michigan to raise money for her cause in an effort she called Row4ROW.   As I understand it, she planned to row the entire perimeter alone and sleep on her boat.  Along the way she shared information about her cause and, of course, blogged about her experience, including her location.  All went well until last week when she was sexually assaulted while she slept on her boat (you can read the Sun Times story).   On July 12, her blog (written by a friend) read:

Jenn was set to row to Beaver Island on Sunday morning but was attacked and sexually assaulted by a man in the early morning hours. The attack occurred in an area south of Gulliver along Lake Michigan in Mueller Township, Schoolcraft County, Mich. Investigators have reason to believe the assailant traveled a significant distance to commit the assault.

The bold print on the last sentence is mine.  It appears from reading her blog that they have not yet caught the assailant.    However, it is interesting to note that they believe that he knew where to find this young woman simply by following her blog.  It is anyone’s guess how he knew to find her blog — it might have been random, or he knew of the effort, or someone posted it on Facebook (frankly, that is how I learned about Row4ROW).  But the point is that the young woman, traveling alone, sleeping on the water simply broadcast her location to the world.  And, she has paid for that mistake.

Many people suffer home burglaries or other crimes because someone knows they are not home because of broadcasts on social networking sites.  Even if all you do is to post a photo from your phone, a technologically sophisticated person can check the photo for information about your location (and, depending on your phone, might know exactly where you were and when you were there).

The young woman is now taking better precautions.  For a couple of days she rode a bike (with others)  until she could find safe locations for sleeping.  She is now back on the water finishing her adventure and raising more money and more awareness of her cause.  And, raising more awareness of the problems of social networking sites.

I do not know this woman, and I do not know anyone participating in the program.  However, I was moved enough by her determination to continue that I did contribute.  If you are so motivated, you can make a donation online.