I’ll admit it. I am a cyber spy. Big time. I can tell you how much my neighbors paid for their homes, have seen the street view of my high school bully’s house, checked out my old boyfriend’s wife to see if she’s hotter than me (totally not, by the way). I’ve found out what kind of car someone drives, how much they paid in personal property taxes and looked up criminal histories and court cases.

Let’s face it – our lives are public information. While a large part of the information posted about us is without our permission or knowledge, millions of us happily share information about ourselves and our families through social networks without a bit of hesitation or concern.

Lucky for all those I spy on, my motives are driven by harmless narcissism and the lingering desire that my high school bully is leading a life of pitiful sadness and despair.

But what about the hundreds of thousands of pervert creeps slinking around the internet every day with less than innocent motives?

We would never take our children to a park where we knew there was some pervy pedophile hanging out in the bushes, so why don’t we ever think twice about posting their Halloween pictures on Facebook, where they can be viewed by the perviest of pervs the internet has to offer?

Yes, you may know all of your “friends” and keep your own settings private, but what about your friends and family who posted a picture of your kid from last weekend’s birthday party? Do you ask who their friends are or ask them about their Facebook settings?

And I even dare to take it one step further. Like 50 million other people in the world I write a blog where I post details and pictures about my family on a daily basis. That’s like going to the park and handing the perverts my business card and an invitation to stop by and give my kids a bath.

Do I get worried from time to time? Maybe a little. But lots of people hire ninja bodyguards to keep 24-hour surveillance on their house, right? I mainly get nervous because I know for a fact there have been some scary ass people on my blog. Through the magic of Google Analytics I can see what people search to get there and realized there are a lot of people in the world who aren’t right in the head. My blog is called sKIDmarking – two of the less offensive searches I can actually mention are “hot skidmarks panties” and “this woman’s huge poop on video”.

What is it about the internet that brings out the crazies? Out in public these are probably perfectly normal looking people standing next to you in the grocery store picking out cereal. But give them a computer and a private room and they’re Googling “sniffing skidmarks”.

Of course the overwhelming majority of internet pervs would never actually act on their impulses and take the time and energy to seek you out and kidnap one of your children just based on a photo. Even so I’ll admit that there have been many times that I’ve considered burning down the house and deleting everything – my blog, my Facebook page, my Twitter and Linked In accounts – and then finding a cozy cave with a nice view to move my family into.

But then I realized if I deleted my accounts I would actually have to talk to my family on the phone and that was an even scarier thought.

It seems like the best way to handle posting information online is to employ the same types of safety measures we do offline. Don’t take candy from strangers = don’t publish where your kids go to school. Don’t get in the white unmarked van = thoughtfully crop bathtub and naked pool photos.

There will always be creeps in the world and unfortunately the internet gives them easier access to what they’re looking for. And just like with real life we can shut ourselves out and keep our kids locked in cages in the basement, but eventually they’ll find a way out. I’m speaking from experience here.

I think the moral of this story is just to be smart about what you post, and don’t bully a classmate that might grow up to be a stay at home Mom with a lot of time on her hands.

Hannah Mayer is a 12-year St. Louis resident and Mom to 13-month-old Ellie.  She’s new to the Full-Time Mom; retiring from her 10-year career at an advertising agency in January. Her personal blog can be found at www.sKIDmarking.com. Follow her on Twitter @ The_sKIDmark .

Photo found here.