.FLYINGHEAD SOCIAL NETWORKING
.TITLE Facebook privacy issues: are they really that big a deal?
.AUTHOR Jessica McCurdy Crooks
.SUMMARY Unfortunately, even with all the press it has been getting, not many people know much or seem to care about Facebook privacy issues.
.OTHER
Statistics indicate that almost 500 million people worldwide use Facebook for one purpose or the other. What started out as a social outlet has now morphed into one of the useful tools in the machinery of self-promotion (whether for personal or career growth or simple narcissism).
Millions of people also use Facebook to catch up with old friends, share photos of the new baby, or just to share news items.
Facebook is also now heavily utilized as an integral aspect of the social media marketing campaigns of many companies. Businesses, both large and small quickly caught on to the enormous benefits that could be reaped from establishing a presence there. A few clicks of the ‘like’ button can get any company additional attention from potential customers.
For today’s business, Facebook and similar sites represent a way to get their message out quickly and cheaply as never before. Marketing on social media sites is done at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing methods. No wonder so many companies go all out to create an online fan base!
Despite all the benefits and the increasing user base, this social networking tool has its dark side. One of the most written about and possibly most dangerous problems with Facebook concerns its privacy settings. Unfortunately, even with all the press it has been getting, not many people know much or seem to care about Facebook privacy issues.
.H1 Is Facebook more than fun and friends?
In its ever increasing quest to be relevant and cutting edge, Facebook frequently implements what are considered necessary changes. Many of them are so fast and furious that users get caught in a tailspin.
One area that frequently gets caught in this constant change is privacy as many of the changes request users to reveal more about themselves. In a world where cyber crime is a billion dollar institution, this can be really dangerous.
One of the first and still most annoying privacy issues with Facebook is the need to allow third party companies access to your information when using certain features. Have you gotten request for FarmVille, and all the other ‘Ville’s on Facebook, not to mention the many other applications?
I’m sure many of us have been there and click the Join button and allow access to my information buttons without second thought. This information includes not just your name, but location, age and other sensitive information. Improper use of this data can lead to identify theft and other problems.
Another simple tool that many users utilize without thinking of privacy is Find Your Friends. This easy to use and simple tool will ask for access to your email addresses. This includes programs such as Hotmail, Yahoo and other email providers as well as from Skype and other similar applications.
All you need to do is log in and import your address book and give Facebook permission to invite people from your contact list to become your friend. On the other side, not everyone like having their contact information given access to without their permission either.
Many people have great pleasure in tagging friends in photos and videos, some of which many find embarrassing or inappropriate. While it is possible to remove tags and block the application, it is rather unsettling to know that your friends can tag you without your permission. Once tagged, someone can save the image before you even realize it’s there and delete it.
.H1 How to maintain your privacy on Facebook
Although there are issues with privacy, there is still a lot you can do to minimize the invasion of your privacy. By learning how to protect your information on Facebook, you can enjoy its benefits and do so with peace of mind.
Just make sure to keep abreast of changes when they occur and make the necessary adjustments when needed. If you are unsure how to implement some necessary changes to improve your privacy, just do a basic search on Facebook. I guarantee you will find the answer you are looking for.
Here are some tips for improving your safety on this social networking giant.
Prevent your tagged photos and videos from being viewable by all and sundry. View your privacy settings and determine who can see anything you are tagged in.
Unless you want to be found by anyone who types your name into Google or other search engines, disable this feature. There are many users who just want to share with a small select group of people and they do not wish to be found on search engines.
Apart from selecting the privacy option to stop this, you can also just allow your name to show up in a search. Unless it’s a very unique name, it will be difficult for anyone to know it’s you. You can change this setting in the ‘Connecting on Facebook’ option.
Some friends don’t want to have their information publicly visible. While they can change some their own privacy settings, you can help by not making your friends list public.
Unless you are in some sort of twisted popularity contest, no one really needs to know you have 1,000 friends — or 10. Customize your listing so that you can help protect your friends. I’ve had requests from people I do not know simply because they see my name in mutual fiend’s list.
I am beginning to control who can post on my wall. Some of the postings can be rather tacky and you really don’t want professional colleagues to see some of them. The options include limiting who can post on your wall or customizing who can see your wall posts. Making these changes will also entail working on your privacy settings.
Keeping safe on Facebook does call for some amount of work on your part but it will be worth it. For many of us, it is better than deactivating your account. After all, Facebook does serve many purposes and can be quite fun. Just practice basic online safety and learn all you can about privacy settings for you and those you interact with.
The question as to whether or not the privacy issues are a big deal depends on both how important you consider your privacy and whether or not you’re putting yourself at financial or physical risk.
For some users, many of the problems are really non-issues. For others they are problems that need to be immediately addressed as potentially serious safety issues. To which camp do you belong?
Two of our favorite colleagues over at ZDNet have written some excellent Facebook security articles:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Zack Whittaker writes [[http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/january-2011-the-definitive-facebook-lockdown-guide/7439|The Definitive Facebook Lockdown Guide]].
.BULLET Long time friend of Computing Unplugged (and a former PalmPower Senior Technical Editor) Jason Perlow writes [[http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/lock-down-your-facebook-profile-in-20-minutes-video-updated-/12957|Lock Down Your FaceBook Profile in 20 Minutes]].
.BULLET Jason also wrote [[http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/lockdown-or-death-for-your-facebook-profile-an-advanced-user-guide-to-social-networking-privacy-updated/12891|Lockdown or Death for your FaceBook Profile: An Advanced User Guide to Social Networking Privacy]].
.END_LIST
Lot’s of great reading. Be safe out there, okay?
.BIO
