I don’t understand the recent outcry against Facebook. Yes, we all want to keep our information private on the internet. But to get upset at a social networking service for making it too hard? That’s what social networking IS – sharing information online. Also, I’m really not buying into the idea that Facebook is automatically opting anyone in to sharing anything. I clicked one of these links warning me that I need to check my privacy settings and opt myself out of some new setting, and, funny, there was nothing checked opting me in to anything. If you actually read the comments on the link above, people go on to get upset about the fact that friends can still share your public information with these services. For those who don’t like this option, there’s a page in your settings allowing you to choose what information you want to allow friends to share. (Just in case you’re interested, here’s another thing people are upset about. Note the words “public information,” ”easily opt out,” and “when I first arrive.”)
People need to read that box before they click the “allow” button to use an application on Facebook. Seriously. It tells you it’s going to share your information with the application or a third-party site, and it tells you that you can change the permissions in your account preferences. I think we’ve all gotten in the habit of clicking “next” or “accept” without reading the fine print, because we don’t want to take the time or the effort. Like when we install software on the computer – who actually reads through the entire end user license agreement or terms of service, every time? I don’t. But if I find something out later that I don’t like about it, I blame myself, not the software company. And then I remove the software.
There’s a simple privacy rule to follow when using the internet. Don’t put up anything you don’t want read or seen. Unless it says specifically on the input form that the information will not be shared, you should assume it will be. Don’t implicitly trust someone to keep something private unless they explicitly say they will. If they don’t say it will be kept private by them, it’s then YOUR responsibility to keep it private.
Related posts:
You may not have seen it right away as it is being rolled out in stages. I checked my settings one day and they weren’t there but later on they were. Also depending on the settings you had in your privacy before hand there may be no changes for you (at least that you will notice). What FB is doing is pre-authorizing certain sites to have access to your info but only when you are still logged into FB (meaning you did not click log out when you are done or not just opening a new window or closing the browser window).
I know they’re pre-authorizing certain sites to have access to your info, but they’re only giving access to public information that you already agreed to share, it’s only shared the first time you access a site (the site never gets the info if you never go to it), and the first time you access the site you have the option to revoke that access. They put a banner across the top of the site notifying you and giving you this option. What I don’t understand is why people are getting upset at Facebook for sharing their public information, when they gave Facebook permission to do so.
No you never gave FB explicit permission to share that info. When I logged into this site I had to click through an authorizing page telling your site and FB that it is ok to link share info. On many of these sites that FB partnered with it isn’t so. They say they are then you have to say no. If you don’t see the banner then you can’t say no. My privacy settings are locked down so tight that if you are not both logged in and my friend then when you go to look at my page it shows up as a error page saying that I am not there. With the pre-auth settings left at default, then that doesn’t matter at all and FB will share just about anything the pre-auth site is allowed by FB to see. FB is continually making more and more of my private info that I choose to share with a few people open to everyone unless I go digging through my settings and reseting them back to locked down settings.
Speaking of people not reading the terms and agreements, did you here about this:
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2010/04/15/gamestation-we-own-your-soul/1
(I’m too technologically inept and/or lazy to figure out how to make that a clickable link, so you’ll just have to do it the old school way and copy and paste it.)
I’ve always wondered if companies were sticking random clauses in there, but I’ve never had the patience to actually read the whole thing. Now we know…
oh look, it turned into a link all by itself.
That’s absolutely hilarious, and totally proves my point. And it turned itself into a clickable link, so no worries there.
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who feels this way, and there’s at least a couple other poor souls on the net that have the same unpopular point-of-view as I do.
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/05/the-facebook-privacy-war-what-is-personal-data/
The guy gets totally chewed out (flamed) in the comments section, but there are a couple of quiet agreements. He even gets accused of being a troll at one point, which I think is a bit extreme.
I understand that people are pissed, and I agree that to an extent they have a reason to be. But I also agree with his basic point that information on the internet is not private, especially on sites like Facebook, and I stand by my previously stated position. Just wanted to share this link with everyone.