Facebook: Difference between revisions
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"Facebook at its core, is a profile and presence aggregator, channeling all of my online activity through one main hub, combining almost every online “social” tool that I use currently." | "Facebook at its core, is a profile and presence aggregator, channeling all of my online activity through one main hub, combining almost every online “social” tool that I use currently." | ||
(http://www.briansolis.com/2007/08/facebook-is-online-hub-for-connected.html) | (http://www.briansolis.com/2007/08/facebook-is-online-hub-for-connected.html) | ||
=Discussion= | |||
Michael Zimmer has some important [[Privacy]]-related questions to Facebook: | |||
"1. Why aren’t users instructed to review and adjust their privacy settings during the new account creation process? Only if a user happens to click on the tiny “privacy” tag in the upper right corner of the page will they discover how they can control the flow of their personal information. | |||
2. You state “Facebook does not screen or approve Platform Developers and cannot control how such Platform Developers use any personal information that they may obtain in connection with Platform Applications.” Why not? You have every right and opportunity to screen and approve Platform Developers (note how Apple is controlling third-party iPhone applications), yet you choose not to. How can users trust that if they opt-into a the Zombie application, that these developers aren’t gaining access to all their profile information? Why have you not committed yourself to monitoring and controlling the amount and types of personal information that flows to third-party applications? | |||
3. What kind of clickstream information do you capture with regards to user activities across the Facebook site? How long is it stored? Is it identifiable to the individual user? How is it used, and who is it shared with? (The Privacy Policy is murky about this, as is the norm) | |||
4. What do you mean when you say “Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services…in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalized experience.” Is Facebook actively searching through non-Facebook sites and media to find more information about users? Is it eavesdropping on instant messaging sessions? Scanning my IM archives? Clipping newspaper articles? This is an extremely unorthodox and unclear statement. | |||
5. Why must users opt-out of having external websites send stories to their profile, as well as from appearing in Social Ads. If you wanted to fully protect user privacy, such “features” should be “opt-in.” | |||
(http://michaelzimmer.org/2008/04/06/real-questions-for-facebooks-chief-privacy-officer/) | |||
Revision as of 05:23, 7 April 2008
The former social network site for students now has become:
"Facebook at its core, is a profile and presence aggregator, channeling all of my online activity through one main hub, combining almost every online “social” tool that I use currently." (http://www.briansolis.com/2007/08/facebook-is-online-hub-for-connected.html)
Discussion
Michael Zimmer has some important Privacy-related questions to Facebook:
"1. Why aren’t users instructed to review and adjust their privacy settings during the new account creation process? Only if a user happens to click on the tiny “privacy” tag in the upper right corner of the page will they discover how they can control the flow of their personal information.
2. You state “Facebook does not screen or approve Platform Developers and cannot control how such Platform Developers use any personal information that they may obtain in connection with Platform Applications.” Why not? You have every right and opportunity to screen and approve Platform Developers (note how Apple is controlling third-party iPhone applications), yet you choose not to. How can users trust that if they opt-into a the Zombie application, that these developers aren’t gaining access to all their profile information? Why have you not committed yourself to monitoring and controlling the amount and types of personal information that flows to third-party applications?
3. What kind of clickstream information do you capture with regards to user activities across the Facebook site? How long is it stored? Is it identifiable to the individual user? How is it used, and who is it shared with? (The Privacy Policy is murky about this, as is the norm)
4. What do you mean when you say “Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services…in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalized experience.” Is Facebook actively searching through non-Facebook sites and media to find more information about users? Is it eavesdropping on instant messaging sessions? Scanning my IM archives? Clipping newspaper articles? This is an extremely unorthodox and unclear statement.
5. Why must users opt-out of having external websites send stories to their profile, as well as from appearing in Social Ads. If you wanted to fully protect user privacy, such “features” should be “opt-in.” (http://michaelzimmer.org/2008/04/06/real-questions-for-facebooks-chief-privacy-officer/)
More Information
Lines of tension between community and governance in Facebook, from Unit Structures blog at http://chimprawk.blogspot.com/2007/11/were-not-sheep-youre-just-not-paying.html
The delicious tag at http://del.icio.us/mbauwens/Facebook
The Economics of Privacy at Facebook.