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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> according to Facebook’s privacy guide, information that users previously had the power to make private — your photo, city, friends, networks and fan pages — are public and searchable, for your own good:
“Making connections — finding people you know, learning about people, searching for what people are saying about topics that interest you — is at the core of our product. This can only happen when people make their information available and choose to share more openly.”
TECHNOTICA
LET'S SOCIALIZE!
Friend Helen A.S. Popkin on Facebook or follow her on Twitter, and see her personal information flapping in the breeze.
Unmentioned is the fact that by decreasing control over your profile, Facebook can compete with Twitter by bringing in more traffic when your info shows up on Google and other search engines. (Meanwhile, users knew Twitter was open and searchable going in.)
Ripping the privacy carpet out from under its users is the kind of shifty behavior that will no doubt result in lawsuits topping that of Facebook’s Beacon debacle back in 2007, when user purchases and other Internet activity popped up in Facebook's "news feed" for all friends to see. But what will most users do? Quit Facebook? Maybe. But probably not.
While there are those privacy advocates who will make a big blogging deal of doing just that, most of us will stay for the many positive aspects Facebook offers: Connection with far-away friends and family, a one-stop shop for free e-mail and FarmVille. Technotica, of course, will stay on Facebook as long as you’re still there, as it’s my job to screech about the importance of your privacy and blah blah blah.
Because here’s the thing: Privacy is important — as important, if not more important, than it ever was. You have a right to access popular technology without worrying that anonymous Facebook employees are rifling photos or e-mails. In the larger picture, it is a company’s responsibility to spell out policy changes in clear language free of legalese and public relations doubletalk. </div></div>
“Making connections — finding people you know, learning about people, searching for what people are saying about topics that interest you — is at the core of our product. This can only happen when people make their information available and choose to share more openly.”
TECHNOTICA
LET'S SOCIALIZE!
Friend Helen A.S. Popkin on Facebook or follow her on Twitter, and see her personal information flapping in the breeze.
Unmentioned is the fact that by decreasing control over your profile, Facebook can compete with Twitter by bringing in more traffic when your info shows up on Google and other search engines. (Meanwhile, users knew Twitter was open and searchable going in.)
Ripping the privacy carpet out from under its users is the kind of shifty behavior that will no doubt result in lawsuits topping that of Facebook’s Beacon debacle back in 2007, when user purchases and other Internet activity popped up in Facebook's "news feed" for all friends to see. But what will most users do? Quit Facebook? Maybe. But probably not.
While there are those privacy advocates who will make a big blogging deal of doing just that, most of us will stay for the many positive aspects Facebook offers: Connection with far-away friends and family, a one-stop shop for free e-mail and FarmVille. Technotica, of course, will stay on Facebook as long as you’re still there, as it’s my job to screech about the importance of your privacy and blah blah blah.
Because here’s the thing: Privacy is important — as important, if not more important, than it ever was. You have a right to access popular technology without worrying that anonymous Facebook employees are rifling photos or e-mails. In the larger picture, it is a company’s responsibility to spell out policy changes in clear language free of legalese and public relations doubletalk. </div></div>
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