"Simply showing that bullying messages came from the same IP address as the one used by Hannah Smith doesn't prove that she sent the messages to herself" says Charles. "There are numerous explanations for visits to a website made by multiple people to be attributed to the same IP address"

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is allocated to a wi-fi router by the subscriber's Internet Service Provider. In theory, IP addresses can be used to trace an internet user's activity online and confirm who was visiting a particular website at a particular time. But, according to Charles Conway, it's not foolproof and certainly doesn't prove that Hannah Smith sent messages to herself in the days and weeks leading up to her suicide.

"All users connected to a public wi-fi hotspot will be using the same IP address and activity on a website like ask.fm will appear to come from the same location" Charles explains. "It's perfectly plausible that Hannah may have connected to ask.fm away from home and in the same location as her tormentors, be that a popular high street coffee shop or fast-food restaurant, the local library or an internet cafe. Even if investigations show that she did access ask.fm from home somebody else could have been connecting to the same network from outside of the home using freely available software to 'hack' into the network. Wi-fi networks can be accessed with a 150 feet (45 meter) radius so again, it's perfectly plausible that Hannah was being tormented by somebody very local."

Charles also says that there are cases which clearly demonstrate that IP address information alone isn't enough to conclude that the posts came from Hannah's home. "Only a year ago, in Indiana, a family watching TV at home was subjected to a terrifying ordeal when a fully armed SWAT team raided their home, complete with 'flash bang' grenades thrown through the window, in response to threats of violence against local police posted online. It transpired that the family had failed to properly secure their wi-fi router, and the threats had been made by a teenager living in the same street using a smartphone connected to the family's wi-fi router."

"In openly stating that Hannah Smith was 'bullying herself' the bosses at ask.fm have attempted to deflect responsibility for the content posted on their website yet again" concluded Charles

#Ends

Notes to editors

About Charles Conway

Charles is an Internet Safety trainer with Gwersyllt based Clear as Crystal Training, working with schools, parents, teachers, carers and social workers around the UK to help them to keep the children in their care safe on the Internet. He's also the author of "I Can't Keep Up! A Clear as Crystal Guide to Keeping Your Family Safe Online" and the editor of Internet Security website Scam Detectives. Charles has twice been shortlisted for the prestigious "Nominet Internet Award" for "Making the Internet Safer" (2010 and 2011).

Charles can be contacted on (07988) 686525 for comment

Link to SWAT team story:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/swat-team-throws-flashbangs-raids-wrong-home-due-to-open-wifi-network/