Facebook's Plan To Automatically Share Your Data 142
Giosuele sends in this excerpt from TechCrunch:
"In anticipation of a slew of new features that will be launching at f8, today Facebook announced that it was once again making changes to its privacy policy. One of the biggest changes that Facebook is making involves applications and third-party websites. We've been hearing whispers from multiple sources about these changes, and the announcement all but confirms what Facebook is planning to do. In short, it sounds like Facebook is going to be automatically opting users into a reduced form of Facebook Connect on certain third party sites — a bold change that may well unnerve users, at least at first."
Nooooo! (Score:4, Insightful)
I love being AC (Score:1, Insightful)
Precisely for things like this.
facebook, myspace, friendster, orkut (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't understand what is wrong with everyone on the internet. You cry about privacy but willingly give out your real-life information to these websites. Each and every one of these social networking websites exists for one purpose and that's to sell your information, your demographics to advertisers and generate revenue.
None of these sites are altruistic establishments who seek to serve the public good guarding one's privacy. At the end of the day you're engaging in opt-in Big Brother and it's far more disturbing than the advanced police state that exists in the UK and is growing in the United States of America.
Doesn't matter if you're using a throwaway freemail account because even then it's ridiculously easy to find one's real-life information. Just stop going there, delete your information and send their company a strongly-worded letter demanding they remove your information.
Agreed, 110% (Score:1, Insightful)
"You will dress only in attire specially sanctioned by M.I.B. special services. You'll conform to the identity we give you. Eat where we tell you. Live where we tell you.
From now on, you'll have no identifying marks of any kind. You will not stand out in any way.
Your entire image is crafted to leave no lasting memory with anyone you encounter. You are a rumor, recognizable only as deja vu, and dismissed just as quickly. You don't exist. You were never even born. Anonymity is your name, silence is your native tongue.
You are no longer part of the system. You are above the system, over it, beyond it. We're "them." We're "they." We are the Men in Black." - Zed, to Agent J & Agent K from the film "MEN IN BLACK"
See subject-line above...
I see; tit for tat... (Score:4, Insightful)
If you reserve the right to burden Facebook with the truth about yourself and your most sensitive information, then they reserve the right to relieve themselves of that burden by revealing it to whomever they see fit.
The e-reward for e-trust.
Re:facebook, myspace, friendster, orkut (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, in this case the sharing of information to third party websites will be done automatically and you are automatically opted-in to the feature. I don't cry about privacy when I can decide when, what and how I give it out. When it happens automatically like here, then I'm sure as hell will complain about it.
But (Score:3, Insightful)
Are third party sites any more capable of doing anything complex with this information than Facebook? The extent to which I noticed facebook profiled me is the ads on the side would say "free gifts if you're male, 67 years old and live in Sausageville". Let's face it (no pun intended), Facebook probably gives prospective advertisers and third-party sites looking to use profile information some complex sounding presentation about the way that break down demographics to the point that an individual can be uniquely identified 24 seconds before they even think about logging into Facebook. But really, 99% of ads are based on sex, age and where they live, I'm sure a lot more companies than Facebook know this information, I think we're somewhat over-estimating technology companies' ability to mine data. OK, once I told a FB friend to not be such a baby and they got some ads about gifts for new parents. Maybe we should have a social experiment where we try to affect the ads by what we post. "Man, I wish I could get a cheap rate mobile, easy date in my area , cartoonize myself" should be a good starting point...
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Think of Facebook as your press release (Score:2, Insightful)
Twitter/Facebook are flooded with advertisers so if you can't beat em join em. Use it as a press release page only.
i used to complain (Score:2, Insightful)
about the cranky losers who constantly trumpet the fact they don't have a television, whenever the subject comes up
however, i am now that cranky loser, for facebook: every time facebook comes up as an issue, i will trumpet the fact i don't have an account, and never will, and feel smugly superior for that fact
it's nothing but a bonfire of vanities. you're just not that interesting, none of us are, sorry
free your time and free yourself from endless navel gazing and obviously, get some privacy: lose facerbook, permanently. declare your freedom from shallowness and corporate exploitation
if you have real friends, they won't need this stupid contrivance to maintain their friendship with you. the rest are just acquaintances, not really friends, and you work far too hard to maintain some ridiculous fake mask for their sake. they don't really matter to the quality of your life, unless you're shallow, in which case you don't have that much quality of life to begin with
lose facebook. you're life will improve
Re:What real life information really? (Score:5, Insightful)
You're kidding, right? Those are the details that an identity thief needs to impersonate you. Social engineering is a well-understood art, and the people you do it to are still living in the 20th century and don't realize that everybody's birthdays and relationships are effectively public knowledge, so if you can give them that information about a person you want to impersonate, they will believe that you are that person and then give you the information you need to get the other details.
Some institutions are starting to wise up to this, but it's hard to know which institutions you do business with are wise to this, and most people don't check, even if they are among the very small percentage of people who realize they should. Do you know what your bank's information protection policy is, what an employee has to do to get fired for violating it, and whether or not that policy is actually enforced?
Subtle satire is subtle (Score:5, Insightful)
Whoosh.
Re:Quit WHINING. (Score:5, Insightful)
When Facebook adds a new feature that shares my information in a new way:
(a) Share my information automatically, I can stop sharing later
(b) Do not automatically share, I can begin sharing later.
That way those who care can keep their data private or at least not be surprised by the new way their data is being shared, and those who find that they enjoy sharing their data in new ways can always be on the cutting edge.
Once you set your default, you can go back at your leisure and change the setting to share or to not share. Usually you will not have to do anything because the default sets the sharing the way you like it.
Ob Disclaimer: I don't use Facebook or any of those other new-fangled things.
Re:I see; tit for tat... (Score:2, Insightful)
Doubtful. The majority of the Facebook user base cares little about actual privacy, and instead just wants a way to show as many people as possible how sick the party was last night and how stoked they are about Friday, but get this - Wednesday is the new Thursday; how awesome are they for thinking that one up?
Their version of protest is creating a Facebook group titled "OMG stop our Facebook overlords!!! 100,000 members and we can change teh world!!!"
Re:i used to complain (Score:2, Insightful)
I honestly do not like Facebook, although I have an account that I'll use about once a month. The problem with not having a Facebook account is the same problem with not eating out: Eating out every meal is expensive and, if you're a decent cook, you usually find the food pretty awful. However, if you work in an environment where everyone eats out every meal, you're pretty much forced to eat out as well unless you want to alienate yourself. Get new friends? In a job where you move every 6 months and your coworkers all just graduated college with you, you're pretty much stuck with what fate gave you.
Re:i used to complain (Score:1, Insightful)
I've got some news for you. Even though you're not on Facebook, you're still on Facebook.
I finally gave up on the idea of internet anonymity a few months ago, realizing that if I didn't take charge of my own PR, someone else would.
You opted in when you gave them your data. (Score:3, Insightful)
Their policy means nothing, since they can always change it on a whim. The only way to have control over your information and privacy is to control it yourself.
Anyone feel like making a distributed peer to peer facebook clone where each user runs (or at least has the ability to run) their own server?
Re:Nooooo! (Score:5, Insightful)
As for Facebook, all this means is that I have to double check that all the info I've given them is erroneous.
Including name? Having a fake name makes it really awkward to use Facebook with your friends and relatives and so on.
But this is finally a thing that really made me thinking of just closing my Facebook account. Not just opt-out from the new features again and again, since they just seem to always be more and more privacy intrusive.
This doesn't use any kind of login button but shares the data automatically to a website when you visit it, so they instantly know who you are along with other data. IP data is still anonymous enough (from the view point of website operator - they don't know who you are without going through police with a valid reason), but now the third party website owners have your name and other details without you never giving them those.
And just wait until every website will start to require you to use this. A good path for throwing all the anonymous cowards off the net and to get everyone comment and visit websites under their real name.
Re:Tracking and XSS for the masses (Score:4, Insightful)
We already have examples of employers that demands access to prospective worker's Facebook accounts in real life.
We do? Is that legal? Easy answer: "I don't have a facebook account". It's none of their damn business.
Re:Quit WHINING. (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is it every time Facebook gets a new idea, everyone must scramble to update their settings
Because it's far easier for the site to make money that way, and they really don't care about your privacy (although it is wise for them to maintain the facade of caring).
Re:Quit WHINING. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Nooooo! (Score:1, Insightful)
Shouldn't this be modded as funny?
I mean, it is the same as not being on Facebook, with the pointlessness of having an account.
As for me: What is this Facebook you speak of?
Re:What real life information really? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Only a fool would publish personal info (Score:3, Insightful)
What fucking pisses me off is I do that and yet I have one _ex_ friend who is dumb enough to go posting all over Facebook wherever that stuff comes up with "corrections". Fucking idiot. No matter how often I told her there was a reason I'd put incorrect information in there she kept doing it. Deleted that moron from the friends list and also from the phonebook, and my life.
You may think you're doing a good job of being private, but I bet everybody on here has at least one friend who has loaded up their Google address book with all of the private details you were hoping to keep from Google. It's annoying enough that these people consistently email out with a hundred names and addresses in the To: field, so people who I'd successfully avoided giving my details to suddenly have them.
You can't win. People are dumb fuckers who care only about shiny things and making their own lives "better". Putting everything online with no regard for privacy or security somehow makes their lives "better", particularly if it's a nice shiny website.
Re:reductio ad absurdum (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Only a fool would publish personal info (Score:1, Insightful)
Can I say that you are a fool?
Who are your friends? That is now known.
Topics? Any you discuss are known.
How long do you spend on line on facebook? Now known.
When are you on holidays? Easy to extrapolate. Calculate your average logon frequency. When it changes noticeably, the system could predict you're away. The system could then use your IP address and other information to calculate where you live.
For f*** sake. Are people this stupid? You think it's about birth dates?
AC
PS For those saying "yeah, but why would they do that?", just look at history. Read Machiavelli's "the prince". It won't talk about facebook, but it does talk about opportunity.
Re:Quit WHINING. (Score:2, Insightful)
Correction. Selling their user's data to anyone who's willing to pay (spammers anyone?) is their primary revenue source. Any advertisement slots they sell on the site itself is just a secondary revenue stream, and considering the amount of people using ad-blocking of some sort, negligible.
Re:i used to complain (Score:1, Insightful)
Actually I use Facebook to share with my coworkers... Coworkers are acquaintances who - if you are mildly involved in their lives - will improve your work environment and generally be much more friendly. Sure I don't have the time to hang out with them 24/7, but maybe I want to know what they've done (similar they want to know what I've done) so we can *gasp* socialize at work the following day! No fake masks, its called socializing. Its ok to do this with people who aren't your friends, I reject your ridiculously introverted world view, but I would never lecture you for not buying into mine.
How pompous are you cannot understand someone else's rather valid use case for a technology... and to deride them for using it.