Blog - Privacy

The big social media news of the week so far is that it's founder's, Mark Zuckerberg's fan page, was down for awhile due to a hacker-attack.  The hacker was apparently mad about the fact that Facebook is selling its user's private information, in the form of targeted ads.  We here at WebRevelation would never condone, encourage, or justify hacking anyone's private account for any reason.  Fortunately, Zuckerberg seems to have gotten control of the situation quickly, and his page is back up - no lasting harm seems to have been done other than possibly some hurt pride.

It was ironic, however that many of the users seemed to agree with the hacker, thinking it was Mark Zuckerberg.  Those users may have had a point.

We've talked at length here on the WebRev blog about how users should not expect privacy on Facebook.  That's actually true of anyplace on the internet.  Where there is information that can be used for anything, there will be people who know how to hack into that information - just know that.  Here are a couple of new reasons, thanks to Neowin:

• Your Facebook status is now a company ad.
• Facebook photo exploit allows you to view any albums of non-friends.

Note - that last headline could also read: Facebook photo exploit allows anyone on the web to view ALL OF YOUR PHOTOS, regardless of the privacy setting. Bottom line?  If it's really private - don't post it online.

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. 
 

Racing toward meeting its goal of world domination (my paraphrase), Google is now trying its hand at providing broadband service to rural healthcare providers, beginning last week in Logan, OH.  Basically, this is a project to take advantage of the airwaves that are open now that our TV's have all gone digital.  According to Google's Larry Alder:

I’m in Logan, Ohio, today to announce that Spectrum Bridge, the Hocking Valley Community Hospital, and Google have teamed up to deploy a broadband network using the TV white spaces.

This is an exciting new deployment – the first of its kind for a hospital – demonstrating the potential of the TV white spaces to improve broadband and spark new applications in healthcare. First responder vehicles, hospital grounds as well as the health department are being equipped with high-speed wireless Internet access. Additionally, the hospital is using the network to manage its outdoor video surveillance system.

To prevent interference with other signals, the network is using Spectrum Bridge’s real-time TV white spaces database (to determine TV white spaces availability at any location, check out Spectrum Bridge’s free search tool.)

This deployment is operating on an experimental white spaces license granted by the FCC. Next Thursday, September 23, the Commission will be voting on final technical rules governing the white spaces – a vote that could pave the way for unlicensed white spaces deployments across the country.

We’re excited that the final rules are up for a vote, and can’t wait to see how entrepreneurs and innovators nationwide will use unlicensed white spaces to introduce cool new products and services....(more)

 

As you may know, for about four years, Google Health has been providing a way for people to consolidate all of their healthcare information in a "convenient" place online.  The health insurance companies began using the service in June 2008.  Since then, over 70 other health records sources and health services companies have joined the fun. 

Naturally, Google has a privacy policy (who doesn't?).  But sometimes mistakes happen, and this is brand-new ground that is being broken in technolgoy. I'm a big fan of Google, actually, and use a lot of their services.  However, those thinking of trusting sensitve health information in the same company that uses their spam and trash e-mails to sell advertising need to remember the recent Google Buzz debacle.  Some information just doesn't need to be on the web (or TV).

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. 
 

I recently discovered that I was not receiving attachments that people were sending me via Gmail when I used Internet Explorer or Firefox (they were working fine on my mobile, and also using Chrome).  I finally figured out that my security settings had been changed, to disallow images.  Once I restored the default setting, everything went back to normal.

In both Firefox and Internet Explorer, there is a little lock icon at the bottom of the screen.  If your images are not displaying correctly, you may need to adjust the settings in one or both browsers.  As long as you have your anti-virus software and firewall updated, and assuming you are not dealing with unusual circumstances, you may want to just use the default settings.

I'm still trying to verify which of my updates changed my settings.  I think it's possible they were changed when I downloaded Google Call on the 25th. 

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. 
 

It's been awhile since I had a Facebook privacy scandal to write about...let's see about three months?  (Oh, and speaking of Don't Use Friend-Finder, Facebook is STILL telling your friends you used that insidious feature, whether you did or not.)

So, what's up, now?  Well, remember how I told you that Facebook was  going all Foursquare?  At the time, it didn't seem there would be a major privacy issue, because it was (still is) an opt-in (aka "check in") feature.  The problem new users are running into is that once they check in, they are not always aware that ALL of their friends can see where they are. 

For some people this is not a problem, but it can take others off-guard.   They may not even realize their profile could be poppling up on the phones of people they had forgotten were on their friends' lists (say...parents, children, significant others, exes, secret stalkers...).  The default is set to "friends only," and "yes" on the "people here now," info.  You have to opt-out of the second one - and this includes if your friends have tagged you as being "here" (wherever "here" is).  Please note, there are two boxes review and check for Facebook places, as shown below.  To get to this box, click on "account," in the top-right of your screen, then "privacy." then "customize settings." 

This is one of those features that can be a lot of fun to use - IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING.  If you don't, you might get caught in an awkward situation, so educate yourself.

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking.
 

As we discussed earlier this week, Foursquare is a popular location-based social networking site (See Foursquare - So everyone can know where you are ALL THE TIME).  By "popular," I meant: "I can't believe this start-up got more 100,000 users," NOT: "They're about to put Facebook, which has almost twice as many users as the United States has legal residents, out of business." Actually, Foursquare has less than 1% of the number of users that Facebook has, according to most of the reports I've seen, but Facebook had to jump in on the action, anyway.  Thus: Facebook Places.

Actually, it's mostly only available to iPhone users at the moment, but the idea is that if you want everyone to know where you are (and see if you have any friends nearby), you can go on touch.facebook.com, and click "check in," then follow the instructions.  You'll also have the ability to tag any peeps who might already be traveling with you.

The good news about this is that (for now, at least), this is an opt-in feature.  Does this mean that Facebook learned a lesson from it's open graph fiasco? Or that it simply didn't want to make a bunch of people mad right before its movie hits theaters?  We'll probably never know for sure, but for now, if you don't want to participate in Facebook places, you don't have to do anything. Maybe.

Also see:  A Field Guide for using Facebook Places (Mashable)

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking.
 

Lesson Learned the Hard Way:  Do NOT Upload your Contacts to Facebook!

Actually, now that I'm reading that, it seems like something quite obvious.  Why, in the world, you might ask, would anyone upload their e-mail contacts to any social network?!  Well, let me tell you my story.

You see, Facebook has a feature that is part of the sign-up process, and available at any time in the right side-bar of the home page, called "Find your Friends."  This feature is a shortcut, which allows Facebook to search your e-mail contacts list to see if any of your e-mail contacts are on Facebook.  At one time (when I first started with Facebook a few years ago), there was a note on the feature that Facebook did not store your contacts.  Well, Facebook's policy has changed, and it is not only storing the contacts, but using them.

Using them for what, you might ask?  Well, we don't know the full extent of what they plan to do with the contacts, but here's one example.

Facebook has another nifty little feature called "Suggest Friends."  In the past, this was a feature you could use to help your mutual friends find each other.  You had complete control over the friend suggestions you made.  Not anymore.  Facebook is now automatically scanning the e-mail contacts you uploaded and scanning your friends, list and (at it's discretion and without your knowledg), is sending friend suggestions that appear to be from you to your e-mail contacts and Facebook friends. 

Do you have friends in your e-mail contacts and on Facebook from several different parts of your past and current life?  Do you want all of these people to become friends and talk to each other?  For that matter, do you want all of these people to receive messages from you without your permission? 

This is what has happened to me.  I'm starting to get confirmations and questions from curious friends, now, about friend suggestions that I have supposedly sent.  Friends from high school and college are getting friend requests from me that were sent without my knowlege to current friends.  The only connection between these people is that they're in my e-mail address book. Some are more embarrassing than others, and I'll probably never know about the ones that people had the kindness to just "ignore."

If you do not  this to happen to you, here's what you need to.  First, don't let Facebook scan your e-mail address list.  If it's too late for that -  Log in to Facebook, then go HERE, and request Facebook to "remove" your contacts from it's system.

Also see:  Facebook is now automatically generating friend suggestions from you.

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is a trainer and tech writer in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. Her weakness is the mocha frappuccino.