Oz bill-dodgers nailed on Facebook A Melbourne restaurant owner has dispensed net justice to a group of bill-dodgers after tracking the ringleader down on Facebook, News.com.au reports. Peter Leary of "up-market establishment" Seagrass was faced with an unpaid $520 bill after five diners "worked their way expertly through the menu, ordered and drank fine wines …
I hate to be the "where's the IT angle" guy, but isn't the Facebook bit totally irrelevant? At the end of the day, the culprit was fingered by a waitress, and turned out to work just around the corner. Restaurant manager adds oh-so-exciting Facebook element to the story, free publicity ensues.
Lovely example of how a Digital Identity(DI) can help your sins to find you out! We are undertaking a project to help people learn about their DI, how it is formed and how it can affect them called This Is Me (sponsored by Eduserv and being run at the University of Reading) - we welcome any stories like this, or how people have chosen to present themselves online, which can be contributed at http://thisisme.reading.ac.uk
It is really nice to hear a positive story about someone using a social networking site with a positive outcome, although I imagine the perpetrators will probably learn how to employ the security settings better which will take the shine off it!
Wrong. It pointed out where he worked, it provided independent (i.e. not based on his own staff admission) proof that the person was the bill dodger (his girlfriend was the only girl in the group and was on the photo), and with all that, the restaurateur could've taken them to court too.
And yes, that is an epic Facebook fail. I'm glad he got his money back - It sucks when you get stiffed for the bill, even worse when it's someone from your own industry.
As previously said, all the info he got from Facebook could probably have been given by the waitress. Or by the local phone directory for that matter.
"it provided independent (i.e. not based on his own staff admission) proof"
No it did not, because he still relies on his and his staff's belief that the guy and girl were really there and really dodged the bill.
"with all that, the restaurateur could've taken them to court too." not more or less than without the FB info. it still boils down to his and his staff testimony. He used FB only as a directory. He also got the employment place, which allowed him to indulge on some vigilante-like justice (which is NOT a good thing in theory, even if it appears to be justified here it's certainly not proportionate, at least if the firing had this story for only reason).
Anyway, serves them FB narcissic no-life morons well.
PS, Pat Parslow: there is no such thing as a specific "Digital Identity" that would exist only in the "cyberspace". There are tubes that can be used to display or collect preexistent pieces of "identity". The intartubes are only a medium, not a "cyberworld". The hype smell around it makes people behave like morons (you wouldn't carry a sign stating your name, address, marital status, interests, names of family and friends for everyone to see, would you? You wouldn't write all this info on the local pub's loo's wall, would you?) but that's it. In the end, it's just a way to give people some info about you -or not-, much like you would do at the pub or in the street. Or over the phone, or in a letter. It's dangerous to single out the internet thing, as it is what tricks people into thinking that it's a different thing with different rules. It's not. Same thing, same rule: don't give your info to people you don't trust with it. Period.
Actually most of the "dark" activities on the net are fueled by people thinking they have a "Digital Identity" that is distinct from their real-world identity. Please don't encourage this.
: By Anonymous Coward Posted Friday 28th November 2008 00:21 GMT
: Alert
: ...the truly stupid of society.
: Wake up people, you need to protect your identity, not give it away
: to just anyone!!
Or you could take the approach that there is shedloads of data about you online already, NOT put there by you and more to the point not controlled by you. In my experience, a great deal of this 3rd party data is out of date and inaccurate.
I control the data I put up about me. If I make sure sure that it is accurate and up to date, then if someone does want to find out stuff about me, the bit I put up will at least be correct. If I am quite happy to tell something to a complete stranger I end up chatting to on a train, then I will put it on a social networking page. If not, I don't.
Managing your online footprint is not stupid. In fact, it could be argued that letting other people shape your online footprint for you is truly stupid. For myself, I choose to manage it myself but have no beef either way. It's all too soon to tell.
Paris 'cos she successfully managed her online appearance
You're assuming an awful lot from a very brief description of what happened.
"As previously said, all the info he got from Facebook could probably have been given by the waitress. Or by the local phone directory for that matter."
Only he didn't - she "was able to give Leary the name of her fleet-footed acquaintance, and he immediately ran it through Facebook." If the perp didn't know if she was working or not it suggests they didn't know each other too well, so she might not have been able to offer up any further info.
"No it did not, because he still relies on his and his staff's belief that the guy and girl were really there and really dodged the bill"
WTF does that mean? The crime was committed, there's no question about this! What, is he going to make it up?
"it still boils down to his and his staff testimony. He used FB only as a directory. He also got the employment place, which allowed him to indulge on some vigilante-like justice (which is NOT a good thing in theory, even if it appears to be justified here it's certainly not proportionate, at least if the firing had this story for only reason)."
Again, WTF? Is your name Rumpole of the Bailey or something?
Facts:
A group of guys evade paying for a meal by legging it from the restaurant.
Manager employs bit of memory and logic (hey! the IT angle), tracks down one of the perps who fesses up, pays up and gets sacked by his employer.
End of story.
Sheesh.
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