Sunday, June 06, 2010

Facebook Privacy: A Bewildering Tangle of Options

Facebook Privacy: A Bewildering Tangle of Options, NYT article and diagram. Pretty shocking.

Here is a small bit of it:


Thanks to TidBITS for the link, and also for the link to this highly interesting radio interview (note: that site, NPR, is popup-ad infested. I recommend using the "download" option to listen to the show).
One of the experts on the show mentions that FaceBook is pretty much built up on the basis of spreading information about its users.

Me, I guess I'm naive and trusting, when I heard that FaceBook has a policy that people must use their real names, and that they enforce it, I thought it was for idealistic purposes, to promote honesty and so on. Silly me, I now realize that it is simply so FaceBook's marketing partners can more easily collect information about you and your likings!

A quote from the show: "two thirds of all lawyers use FaceBook as their primary source" [of information about people].

No comments: