The Issue with Facebook: Privacy
Facebook is an amazing social networking program in which users can easily keep in contact with friends and loved ones all over the globe. As popular as this tool is, many users overlook or are not made aware of the privacy issues that come with Facebook.
When you sign up for a Facebook account you provide certain personal information such as: your name, age, gender, email, telephone number, and address. Usually when a person signs up for a computer account seldom do they actually read through the terms of use or the privacy policy. They’re so long that you would have to sit there for hours just to skim through it. As well, it seems to be written in a different language. So it is understandable that users just agree to the terms of service and privacy policy. The terms of service for Facebook state that:
“For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (“IP content”), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (“IP License”). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.”
This basically means that if you post a picture or video on Facebook you give them the rights to that content. They go on to say that this ends when you delete your account unless the content has been shared. One of the things I found interesting while researching Facebook privacy issues was that you can easily deactivate your account but there is no clear information on how to delete your account. So even though you have deactivated your account, Facebook still has the rights to your personal information and the content that you have posted on the site.
“When you delete IP content, it is deleted in a manner similar to emptying the recycle bin on a computer. However, you understand that removed content may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time (but will not be available to others).”
When you deactivate your account or delete information from your account, Facebook is unclear about the amount of time your information will be stored. This is in violation to a Canadian privacy law. Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart is currently investigating this situation and is fighting to have Facebook declare an amount of time in which they will have access to the information.
Facebook sets security and privacy defaults when you sign up for an account that allows everyone to see your information. They tell you all about this in the privacy policy but go on to say if you don’t like that fact then change it in your settings. If you are a user that is not computer savvy and has not read Facebook’s privacy policy then you would be none the wiser. This leaves the backdoor open for Facebook to access your information. Facebook should make the privacy information more public so that users will know how to protect themselves.
One of the most controversial issues with Facebook privacy is the applications. When you accept an application you are letting the application gather your personal information and the information of anyone you have on your friends list to use as they please. If any of the applications are corrupt they could expose you and your Facebook friends to malicious use of your confidential information.
There are a few things that a user can do to better protect themselves and their information on Facebook. Also, remember not to be to open about your personal information. Here are a couple sites that every Facebook user should take a look at.
http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/
http://www.ramgad.com/2008/12/31/facebook-and-security-issues-golden-rules/
