Facebook in Privacy Breach - Wall Street Journal - October 2010

[sharon sanders]

By EMILY STEEL And GEOFFREY A. FOWLER




Many of the most popular applications, or "apps," on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information—in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names—to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.

snip

Many of the most popular applications, or "apps," on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information—in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names—to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.

more....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304772804575558484075236968.html?mod=wsj_share_twitter

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I think people need to assume that anything they post, including chats, on Facebook are public. Facebook can sell the site, or portions, any time they desire. It is a for profit enterprise. I believe governments, credit agencies, litigators, are all using Facebook to track what people are doing.

 

[sharon sanders]

None of the recent information about what facebook has been doing with participants content is a surprise. Many have been warning for years about what people post online. Please also see:

The Real Privacy Scandal On Social Networks: The Feds Are Spying On Facebook - 2010

6 Reasons to Avoid Facebook - Opinion from Editor of Wired - 2010



It is really ironic is that other Silicon Valley competitors are criticizing facebook.

Nothing you post online is private. It is all on a server somewhere. All of the workers that have access to that server potentially have access to your information. It has been this way since the beginning of the internet. .



Silicon Valley Rivals Take Shots at Facebook

The social-media company, once an industry darling, draws critical comments from Apple CEO Tim Cook and others


https://www.wsj.com/articles/silicon...ook-1522595763

 

[sharon sanders]

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies in front of Congress today. This company has always made it clear that its business model was to monetize participants.

The warnings were clear for years. There is no privacy on the internet. No matter what a vendor promises you, there are workers who maintain the servers that have access to everything.

I hope the government does not use facebook as an excuse to regulate the internet.