But Facebook.com doesn't seem to play by those rules. Although your profile may be private to others, your information is still seen--and utilized-- for advertising purposes with Facebook. One of the biggest changes to the privacy policy, described in this article, is the advantage Facebook may take with the "Everyone" feature," the default setting that makes all information available to everyone on Facebook. The "Everyone" feature may begin to include automatically logging the user into "Facebook Connect," which will give advertisers access to your information and property, without warning or permission. Facebook Connect is sometimes used for games, applications, or contests on Facebook. For example, the ongoing vote for a Victoria's Secret line of Rutgers clothing uses Facebook Connect for a user to vote. This privacy policy change would give Victoria's Secret permission to access your information and use it for marketing or advertising purposes, even if you just visited the Victoria's Secret Web site without Facebook Connect.
Tanya wrote in a previous blog post that the "everyone" feature can give people the ability to control what information they post on Facebook. However, I don't think the average Facebook user cares enough to read the privacy updates to know what exactly is put out there, nor do they know exactly what can be used and in what capacity.
News like this can seriously cut into a Facebook user's privacy. Facebook Connect, teamed with Facebook's advances in mobile technology, can team up in order to post your location whenever you send a mobile message to Facebook-- primarily, to update your status. These settings can automatically be posted on your public Facebook page-- on your "everyone" setting-- without you knowing.
I would say this is bad news for the average Facebook user. I don't know a single person my age who actually reads the privacy policy before posting their pictures, information, or other intimate details of their life. With the click of a button, they assume that only the people they are "friends" with can see their page. I think a lot of this is from a remnant belief that Facebook is more private, and less creepy, than MySpace, something started when Facebook really began to take over as the main social medium. However, it takes some tweaking to truly get your Facebook to purely "private."
In the meantime, what does this mean for Internet privacy? Facebook can change the regulations as much as they want, and they can't say we didn't know. They make the changes publicly, and put them in as many places as possible short of sending them to your inbox for you to read. Most people simply don't bother reading the large blocks of legal jargon that don't detail anything about their friends' Facebook activities. Is Facebook taking advantage of that? It's possible, but until then, the average Facebook user should not be surprised-- but will be outraged-- if their embarrassing night-before pictures suddenly appear in an Absolut ad alongside their profile.
--Sarah Morrison
Good call! Most people don't read the agreement when they sign up for Facebook or bother to read the updates when Facebook changes its policies. I can't say I blame them; as you pointed out, it's long and boring and full of jargon.
ReplyDeleteTo sum it up, Facebook already owns any non-copyrighted content that you upload to its servers and has full authority over its use, even before the new "Everyone" settings take effect. So, theoretically, Facebook could sell your profile pictures and videos, a list of your friends or your personal information, etc. to the highest bidder even if you choose to hide your content with Facebook's privacy settings.
All those little things on Facebook-- "Interests," "Friends," "Groups," etc.--are valuable demographic data to advertisers and corporations, and Facebook probably already makes a bundle turning personal information into a commodity.