Facebook Privacy Concerns

This is my first post in a series about Facebook and why you shouldn’t be using it.

In their own words

From the Facebook Privacy Policy:

You post User Content (as defined in the Facebook Terms of Use) on the Site at your own risk. Although we allow you to set privacy options that limit access to your pages, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We cannot control the actions of other Users with whom you may choose to share your pages and information. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that User Content you post on the Site will not be viewed by unauthorized persons. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Site. You understand and acknowledge that, even after removal, copies of User Content may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other Users have copied or stored your User Content.

Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services, and other users of the Facebook service through the operation of the service (e.g., photo tags) in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalized experience.

When you use Facebook, certain information you post or share with third parties (e.g., a friend or someone in your network), such as personal information, comments, messages, photos, videos, Marketplace listings or other information, may be shared with other users in accordance with the privacy settings you select. All such sharing of information is done at your own risk. Please keep in mind that if you disclose personal information in your profile or when posting comments, messages, photos, videos, Marketplace listings or other items , this information may become publicly available.

In simple English: Facebook collects a huge amount of information about you and makes that huge amount of information available to others.

Do the users ever read this?

I truly wonder whether the children between the ages of 13 and 18 ever read the Privacy Policy, and if so, whether or not they understand it.

It is absolutely ridiculous to me that any one organization can be holding information about you such as your contact details, your age, physical location, psychological details (inc. behaviour and preferences), who you interact with, and so on… and making that available to others.

I think one of the primary reasons that users between the ages of 13 and 18 use this service is to feel popular; that is, to feel like they belong in one way or another. Few, if any, ever truly consider the ramifications of what they are doing.

Do these teenagers know that what they do on an instant messenger can be collected by Facebook? Microsoft is Facebook’s exclusive partner for advertising, which also makes it imperative for the two companies to share information about the users. Do they know that what they do on Microsoft’s services could be tracked and added to Facebook’s vast repository without their knowledge?

Admittedly, there are many users that don’t care that so much of what they’re doing is available to others. Students don’t feel like it’s a problem. And this is yet another issue that society is facing in the 21st century: young adults neglecting their individuality to be a member on a web site.

Do these teenagers know that Facebook really can’t control what people are adding and what people are viewing? Definitely so. Teenagers are aware of this issue the moment they sign up; they understand that the concept of Facebook is all about sharing personal information.

Legalities

I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t claim to be one. But recognize this: this privacy policy makes it nearly impossible for Facebook to be held responsible for what its site causes. All users, when they sign up, specifically give up their privacy rights. They agree to these policies and agree that others can upload what they want, and that others can view what they want, as long as it’s one of the many revealing things that a user has agreed to publish.

It’s typical of an organization to limit liabilities, but when it is so clearly infringing on the rights of minors, and forcing them to accept these policies which they have no say in, Facebook is an irresponsible company.

In conclusion

In my opinion, Facebook users must be made more aware of exactly what the privacy implications are. They must know why it is that they shouldn’t be giving out so much private information online.

What ever happened to the “don’t give out your name online” concept? Now, 13-year-olds are being told that they can become popular online by giving out their names, contact information, personal interests, pictures, etc…

However, as a technologically-involved individual, I feel that Facebook as an organization should be held responsible for their site. This opinion is shared by many others across the globe, particularly those campaigning against Facebook on privacy grounds. Children can’t be restricted; that would simply make them desire the undesirable even more. Children can’t be made to understand the Privacy Policy; they don’t care. Only Facebook can change its policies and revert to the original concept, which was for mature university students/alumni.

Why is Facebook so popular? Easy answer: they deviated from the original plans and is now reaching a much wider audience. Instead of following the Unix principle and doing one thing well — that is, connecting university students and making it easy for alumni to find each other — Facebook has become an all-encompassing service which involves everyone 13+. Facebook cannot be as successful without its millions of users. Yet, precisely for that reason, others and I refuse to boost its ill-deserved success by refusing to sign up, campaigning actively against its use, and making others aware of the implications of using its service.

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