Facebook

I've been trying to keep a low profile as of late... hence the lack of posts. I figure it's safer that way. I really don't need any more trouble.

But the experience brings up a number of privacy questions related to Facebook. Since it is a membership site and your profile can only be accessed by people on the network, or on your friends list, is there an expectation of privacy? The web site is designed for "personal use" but one can always just argue that they accidentally found that picture of you passed out from intoxication... or smoking that joint... or whatever is in that picture. Too many people, myself included, forget that the information can be accessed by just about anyone at any time. It's out there for everyone to see. As was evidenced in my case, can (or should) that information be used against you to terminate your employment without notice, discipline/expulsion from school, or even be used to file criminal charges?

The default privacy settings is that it is wide open to anyone. I firmly believe that the default should be much more secure. You can customize your privacy to be whatever you want it to be. To truly protect privacy the default should be a limited profile. Then you can enable full access if that is what you want. If that was the case those pictures never would've been seen and I'd still have a job.

In the United States there was a case where an applicant applied for a job with the government and under the Patriot Act they accessed everything on their Facebook account, even what had been restricted by the user. I would assume that if they had turned the privacy on for something then it means they didn't want other people to know about it. So imagine being at the job interview and being asked questions about it. For details on this case click here.

Any web site like Myspace, Friendster, or Facebook makes it even easier for someone to become a stalker. Suddenly people who would lock their door when they go home make their lives publicly available with all kinds of details and pictures. So now you know that the person sitting across from you at work has three tattoos, spends their free time at X bar and their favourite show is Survivor. Things you might not have known even though you've worked together for 3 years. It changes the way we interact and it definitely changes the flow of information and what information is available.

And then there is the "My Feed" portion of the web site.... I am willing to bet that most people don't really think about it. In fact they like seeing who has posted what... and who is now friends with who. But think for a second of the implications. Yes it can reconnect you with someone you didn't know was a member. But it also tells you every time someone changes their status, information on their profile, joins a group, posts a picture, or places a message on someone else's wall. Do we really need to know all this? It's also how the manager in question knew so quickly about the pictures I had posted. They were not on my friends list but could completely browse the profile... so either they check it constantly... or knew about it because someone else commented on one of the photos.

There is a fascinating video called "Does What Happen in the Facebook Stay in the Facebook?" It is really interesting and kind of frightening actually. It's the stuff conspiracy theories are made of. And it really begs the question as to whether or not there is any privacy or if it is all just a false sense of security and privacy. Big Brother really is watching and we've let him in.