We’ve all heard the saying, “What happens on the internet stays on the internet.” But what happens when what we post is seemingly anonymous? Or, the better question: is it really anonymous?

As anonymity becomes more premium online, a new form of social media has appeared on college campuses across the United States. YikYak, an anonymous bulletin board app, was launched in 2013 by two Furman University students. The app was available until 2017 when it was shut down due to declining users. Yik Yak was relaunched in 2021 and has since seen a large growth in users.

Since its relaunch, YikYak has been at the center of a number of security issues including bomb threats at college campuses like Western Kentucky University, the University of Utah, and Oxford College of Emory University. More importantly, the lack of privacy has become a concern among its users.

In 2022 David Teather, a software engineer from Madison, Wis., published an entry on his blog detailing the lack of privacy on YikYak. The blog post describes the app’s lack of privacy and, more specifically, how easy it was to track other users. He found that with only a little work he could track users within a 10-15 foot radius, which means that Teather could identify YikYak users within his own classroom. 

Since Teather’s findings, YikYak has made some significant changes to protecting user data, but its lack of privacy also makes its users easily tracked by law enforcement. In fact, YikYak’s privacy policy includes a segment on disclosure of information which ensures the app will “comply with the law, a judicial proceeding, court order, subpoena or other legal process.” This means that your data is stored and is available to law enforcement if requested.

Emporia State Information Technology’s CIO Doug Polston has been a member of Emporia’s IT department for over thirty years and shared the following advice for users of YikYak – or any anonymous application. 

 “There’s an old saying: if you can’t tell your mom or your grandma, you shouldn’t be saying it,” he said.

The internet is forever, and you truly never know who’s watching.