Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Facebook Privacy

   With the increase use in social media sites, allows creation of expressive user profiles, yet at the same time requires the privacy expected in protecting those users personal information from being sold for profit, stolen and misused etc.. Facebook, Google +, being the pioneers of social media privacy are creating/raising newer issues surrounding users privacy issues when using the mentioned and other similar media sites. FTC is requiring updated policies surrounding invasive privacy issues that have been manipulated or dwindled through the years benefiting the networking sites, while taking advantage of the unaware user.
   I feel that privacy issues need to be formatted in ways that allow users to understand and follow what they are opting in or out of. Though we sign up and opt in agreement of the privacy policy issues, we glaze over the updated policies that the networks send, within these new policies they piggy back new policies that allow for the use and "abuse" of the information users provide in the service(s). Though network groups like Facebook and Linkdin provide new innovative services, the underlying purpose is to attain more information from the users without the users conscious knowledge of providing "private" information. What the networks do is what Chunka Mui touched on describing Google's CEO's statement that, "Google policy is to get right up to the creepy line and not cross it." Social networks provide us the means in order to be part of a "public" yet we want to retain some anonymity as well. Much like our lives outside our cyber lives, we want the ability to be public to those we know, and have the sense of privacy from those we don't. Since our current society trend is pushing towards a social media heavy culture that we need to adapt and look at current privacy policies that ensure the protection of the users, and that information provided on networks aren't being used to benefit the inustries.

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