Some Quitting Facebook as Privacy Concerns Escalate

[missflick]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/13/f...acy/index.html

[Stormy]

I do think Facebook has privacy issues, but it's up to people to learn how to use the privacy settings and be responsible using Facebook. I'm always amazed at what people share and post on Facebook and how they leave everything open for anyone to see. I have all my privacy settings set to the highest level, you can't search for me on Facebook, or have my Facebook profile be shown in search engines. I don't add a zillion games or apps that share all my information. I use it as responsibly as it allows me to.

[IceAlisa]

One of a friend's friend posted pics and video of her home birth. With details and close ups. I've always considered that kind of event private and intimate but she obviously doesn't. And because my friend commented, I was able to see it.

That was the only time I saw something out of the ordinary though .

[PDilemma]

One of a friend's friend posted pics and video of her home birth. With details and close ups. I've always considered that kind of event private and intimate but she obviously doesn't. And because my friend commented, I was able to see it.

That was the only time I saw something out of the ordinary though .

A high school friend of mine has been posting weekly photos of her pregnant belly. On Wednesdays. Which we are supposed to be calling, from now until the birth, "Susie's Bump Day". On Mondays and Tuesdays, she reminds us that the day is almost here because she knows we "are all looking forward to it!" She's always been a bit self-absorbed.

Sometimes I think that Facebook supplies way too big of a platform for people like that to get worse.

My privacy settings are to the maximum as well. The thing that has pissed me off most is the new thing where your work, interests, schools, etc...must be connected to a page or not listed. What was that???

[Andora]

Betty White's monologue on SNL touched on a couple good points about Facebook, that it's a "giant waste of time" (guitly) and how showing someone vacation pictures was considered punishment or classes or something. (I'm blanking) I laughed, but .

I use Facebook responsibly. I keep my privacy controls as tight as I can, even though Facebook reboots them, it would seem, from time to time. My last name isn't even on there, thankfully, but I really hate that I can't be invisible anymore, and privacy controls/standards are changed often. I really dig those on my list who post articles and interesting points of interest, but they're few and far between. It's fine, I can just scroll by.

What I have a real problem with is that one can't REALLY control what's put out there about you. That others can not only put up a photo of you, but TAG you in it, is beyond ridiculous. I'm lucky, because I'm pretty sure I don't have any scandalous photos out there, but a friend of mine was at a party with a cigarette in one hand and something a bit illicit in the other. Someone snapped a photo of her like this, and threw it up on facebook with her name attached. Absolutely we should be careful about pictures we pose for/things we do around cameras, but I think the whole tagging business is ridiculous all the same. I have it so others can't see photos I'm tagged in, but I'm sure that'll stop being an option in the future.

[*Jen*]

What I have a real problem with is that one can't REALLY control what's put out there about you. That others can not only put up a photo of you, but TAG you in it, is beyond ridiculous. I'm lucky, because I'm pretty sure I don't have any scandalous photos out there, but a friend of mine was at a party with a cigarette in one hand and something a bit illicit in the other. Someone snapped a photo of her like this, and threw it up on facebook with her name attached. Absolutely we should be careful about pictures we pose for/things we do around cameras, but I think the whole tagging business is ridiculous all the same. I have it so others can't see photos I'm tagged in, but I'm sure that'll stop being an option in the future.

I agree. I also have it so others can't see the photos that I am tagged in, but I don't like it when people put up bad photos of me. My flatmate recently informed me that she found a whole lot of photos of herself on our former flatmates page, untagged, that she had no idea were there. She asked the girl to take them down, but so far, she hasn't.

The idea of things about me being on the internet without my knowledge freaks me out. And people wonder why I refuse to be in photos

Hopefully facebook will allow for the stricter privacy settings, because if they don't, a lot of people will leave and a new site will pop up to grab the market.

[millyskate]

Sometimes I think that Facebook supplies way too big of a platform for people like that to get worse.

I think that's an excellent point.

One of a friend's friend posted pics and video of her home birth. With details and close ups. I've always considered that kind of event private and intimate but she obviously doesn't. And because my friend commented, I was able to see it.

That was the only time I saw something out of the ordinary though .

I think facebook has its definite pluses. It's particularly useful for people like me, who are constantly moving and have lived in many different countries. If it wasn't for facebook, I wouldn't have a social life. Facebook enables you to keep casual acquaintances at a distance, and that's vital to my balance. If facebook wasn't there, I don't think I'd be able to put up with this lifestyle. That may sound a bit extreme, but it's true... Having daily interaction with my closest friends on the other side of the earth, and having 2/3 a year interaction with a couple of hundred others wouldn't happen so naturally without it.

I also got my last job through facebook, and all the serious employment options I've had this year have been through facebook as well! so facebook.

[El Rey]

I agree that it is up to people to set their settings according to how much they feel comfortable revealing. I disagree with some of the privacy options that facebook has taken away that were previously there. For example, I used to like that when a "non-friend" saw me on a friend's page all they could see was my name. They couldn't see a picture nor could they click on my name to get any other kind of information. Now they can do all that and see the pages I am a fan of. And now I can't even list any interests, schools, etc without facebook linking it and making it public. If i want to do that without linking I need to put it in my Bio.

And people always argue that we don't have to pay to use Facebook so we shouldn't complain. Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire before all these privacy changes. And he became a billionaire because we use facebook. So we aren't getting anything for free.

[kwanfan1818]

I do think Facebook has privacy issues, but it's up to people to learn how to use the privacy settings and be responsible using Facebook.

Which isn't possible when they add in new elements that are auto-set to little or no privacy, and until someone puts out a warning with instructions on how to reset the settings, and you change them, or you poke around yourself, the new elements can suck your info out at will.

There's a group of four guys called "diaspora" that claims to have raised enough money to program the beta for a new social app that will address the privacy issues in Facebook:

We think people’s privacy and personal control is in jeopardy more than ever online, and every day we hear about more and more of our peers who say that Diaspora is something that they want and need.

http://www.joindiaspora.com/

[*Jen*]

I do think Facebook has privacy issues, but it's up to people to learn how to use the privacy settings and be responsible using Facebook. I'm always amazed at what people share and post on Facebook and how they leave everything open for anyone to see. I have all my privacy settings set to the highest level, you can't search for me on Facebook, or have my Facebook profile be shown in search engines. I don't add a zillion games or apps that share all my information. I use it as responsibly as it allows me to.

So do I, but that doesn't change the fact that a couple of months ago, I realised that I could see some profiles I previously couldn't see. And I decided to check my own settings, and discovered that facebook had changed them, without my knowledge or consent, so that a lot more things were public.

There's using it responsibly, and then there's corporate responsibility. Facebook shouldn't take away privacy options and change settings are regularly as it does, and without warning. There's a growing area of internet law relating to this.

[IceAlisa]

Ironically, one of my friends posted on FB that government officials in Europe are putting heads together for discussion of whether FB has broken any privacy laws. In response to this and what I imagine to be an avalanche of complaints, FB has hired a prominent privacy laws attorney.

FB also had an emergency All Hands On Deck meeting to discuss the matter.

[Kruss]

I would love it if Facebook as found liable for messing with people's privacy. I hate that I have to make it almost a weekly thing to go into Facebook and check my settings since they find it absolutely okay to change my settings whenever they feel they can.

I use it to keep in touch with old classmates and with newly-found family in Ireland, England and Italy. But I hate it.

And the apps gave me a nasty malware. No apps for me anymore!

[silverstars]

I do agree that the direction that Facebook's privacy policy is headed in is a bit scary, and I can't say that I'm thrilled about their new thing with all of your interests being public. I don't have any apps because the whole access to all of your information thing really freaked me out.

That said, I'm in college. I use Facebook to plan/attend events for all of my extracurriculars and friends, keep in touch with people at other schools, and basically organize a large part of my social life. It's a huge part of the social culture at basically any American university that you can find (it was, after all, created specifically for colleges before it got really huge). Until "the next big thing" comes along, I'm kind of stuck with FB because it's so ingrained in college life. I do make sure that I really limit the amount of information that's on there, though, especially considering the fact that I'll be looking for jobs in a year or two.

[MOIJTO]

If somebody wants to find out about you they will facebook, myspace or not!

[heckles]

If somebody wants to find out about you they will facebook, myspace or not!

So will you post a photo here of yourself using the bathroom? Because if we really want to, we could look through your windows late at night and watch you pinch one off...

[LadyGray]

I think that's an excellent point.






I think facebook has its definite pluses. It's particularly useful for people like me, who are constantly moving and have lived in many different countries. If it wasn't for facebook, I wouldn't have a social life. Facebook enables you to keep casual acquaintances at a distance, and that's vital to my balance. If facebook wasn't there, I don't think I'd be able to put up with this lifestyle. That may sound a bit extreme, but it's true... Having daily interaction with my closest friends on the other side of the earth, and having 2/3 a year interaction with a couple of hundred others wouldn't happen so naturally without it.

I also got my last job through facebook, and all the serious employment options I've had this year have been through facebook as well! so facebook.

I agree with your points here. I have had several, mostly unrelated groups of close friends throughout my lifetime (people from my former dance company, old classmates, college friends, friends from my old hometown, friends from my new hometown, work colleagues from more than one workplace, etc.) and I am happy to have FB to help me stay in touch on a regular basis with each of these groups of people (as well as mostly everyone in my very large family). Since I joined FB a little over a year ago, I have made (and continue to make) in-person connections with people from each of these groups, some of whom I hadn't seen in well over a decade.

Interestingly, because he saw me posting on FB late last night, my uncle realized I was up and called me from his new house in the Philippines (I live in the U. S.). He said it only occurred to him to try me because seeing me on FB put me in his mind (just to be clear, I am one of 27 first cousins, so he has a lot of nieces and nephews to try to think of ). Anyhow, we had a lovely, hour-long phone conversation that may not have happened otherwise.

I love FB and will continue to be vigilant about protecting my privacy (I don't list any personal info like work, schools, birthday, residence, e-mail, etc.,-- I figure that the people who I want to know that information already know that information).

[danceronice]

A high school friend of mine has been posting weekly photos of her pregnant belly. On Wednesdays. Which we are supposed to be calling, from now until the birth, "Susie's Bump Day". On Mondays and Tuesdays, she reminds us that the day is almost here because she knows we "are all looking forward to it!" She's always been a bit self-absorbed.

I'd defriend that person, and it wouldn't have anything to do with Facebook.

[IceAlisa]

I'd defriend that person, and it wouldn't have anything to do with Facebook.

You could also hide their newsfeed. I've done it with a couple of people.

[Norlite]

You could also hide their newsfeed. I've done it with a couple of people.

That's what I do. Like you, just to a couple people.


PDilemma's friend would definitely be one of those.

[PDilemma]

That's what I do. Like you, just to a couple people.


PDilemma's friend would definitely be one of those.

But, see...there's a dilemma there. Part of me wants to defriend or hide her, and part of me wants to leave her there for mocking purposes. So far the second part is winning.