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A fake webpage, parts of which are reproduced above, was created by someone, probably a student, pretending to be Glendale teacher Kimberly Sinclair. |
It sounds like a country song, but school employees throughout the nation can be found exclaiming, “It’s my face on MySpace, but it’s not me!”
Indeed, it was a shock for Kimberley Sinclair to discover she had her own MySpace page two years ago. And today, she is still trying to get rid of it.
“A kid came into my class and said, ‘You have a MySpace page,’” recalls Sinclair, who teaches psychology and health at Glendale High School. “I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ I looked it up, and there was ‘my page’ with a picture of me that was taken from the school website. So it has my picture and facts that are wrong. There is someone pretending to be me, but it’s not me.”
Whoever is pretending to be Sinclair answered “yes” to whether she has ever shoplifted on a questionnaire posted on the site. And Sinclair has never shoplifted. There were also some suggestive messages from her so-called “friends.”
“It’s not as grossly defamatory as some other cases have been, but I don’t like the bit about the shoplifting,” says the Glendale Teachers Association member. And she’s worried that someday it may hurt her career.
“Some employers check applicants online, and I don’t want anyone to see that.”
When she called MySpace to complain, she was told to e-mail a picture of herself holding a sign with a picture of the site, the date and the site’s ID number. The sign had to say, “This is an impostor site.” After sending the e-mail and attached photo, the site was removed. A few days later, however, it was back.
She sent an e-mail and picture again. It was removed for a few days and then it returned.
“I called and talked to this woman at MySpace,” says an exasperated Sinclair. “She explained to me that each page put up is a ‘profile.’ When I called to complain they took down ‘Profile No. 1,’ but the originator of the site then put up ‘Profile No. 2.’ I told her that this could go on indefinitely and that it was ridiculous, and I asked her to give me the name of the person creating the page. She said I would need a subpoena to find that out.”
Sinclair asked how to get a subpoena so she could sue the culprit. “The woman at MySpace didn’t know and told me to call the police.”
When she called the police, they said, “We don’t handle that. It’s a civil matter. Call the FBI.” The FBI said the same thing: “They didn’t handle that.”
Finally, she came to CTA. A staff attorney told her that because MySpace is protected under First Amendment rights, there wasn’t much she could do. But the attorney suggested taking her case to court in an effort to establish a precedent. “I said that’s fine with me,” says Sinclair. “I’m happy to be a precedent.”
Things have changed since Sinclair was told to e-mail a picture of herself holding a sign; now MySpace has a special form just for teachers and school employees to report such abuse. It can be found under the site’s FAQ [frequently asked questions] section. Unfortunately, new profiles can still be posted when old ones are removed.
“I’m very frustrated,” says Sinclair. “Identity theft is a crime and whoever is doing this is breaking the law. It makes me mad that there is some punk out there pretending to be me suffering no repercussions — and I have no control over it.”
She assumes that it is most likely a student. “In the 14 years I’ve been here, I’ve taught more than 2,000 kids. It could be any of them.”
Jade Lee, a seventh-grade teacher at George Shirakawa School in San Jose, had better luck. She knew exactly who put her picture on MySpace because she had seen it on the home page of a former student who had received a poor grade from her the previous year. On her picture he had drawn a mustache and acne, says the Franklin McKinley Education Association member.
“I printed it out and called the police. They said as long as it wasn’t threatening me, it was not criminal activity. And school administrators said that it was covered by freedom of speech and not under their jurisdiction, since it wasn’t posted on a school computer.”
Lee called the boy — and his parents — in for a meeting and explained that she felt violated and was upset. She reminded them that MySpace requires members to be at least 14 — the student was only 13 at the time. She did not even mention the words “freedom of speech.”
The next day, much to her delight, the page with her picture was gone.