Gadgets help track criminals

Hyderabad: The GPRS in smartphones is not all evil. In some cases, it has helped police track down criminals and in others it has led police to people in trouble. The thumb rule is to use the GPRS feature judiciously and not let it run riot through the system.

Police officials have nabbed several criminals using the GPRS feature in their smartphones. Among them was a criminal who had attacked a woman in an ATM booth in Bengaluru. However, caution should be exercised at all times suggest cops.The self-same GPRS feature can be used to locate people in trouble. A few helpline apps use the GPRS feature to come to the rescue of people in distress.

“Be it personal or private information, photographs, phone numbers or even tower location, nothing should be shared with strangers. One should be wary of strangers on social networking sites and not even chat with them. Children should be especially alerted by their parents on the potential threats,? said DCP Central Crime Station (Cyber Crime), G Pala Raju.

According to the cyber crime police, a large number of small time criminals are forever scanning social networking sites for potential victims.

Also accepting friend requests from strangers can mean the strangers morphing and misusing photographs.