Facebook’s Privacy Issues

August 25, 2009 · by Eric Sorenson

The next time you take a minute to update your Facebook page, be careful! Most users know the difference between public and private information in their profiles, but making sensitive information private is not as safe as some users may think. Canada’s privacy commissioner has been the latest to put a spotlight on the numerous gaping holes in the security surrounding the most popular social-networking websites.

The biggest problem, in my opinion, is that almost a million Facebook developers around the globe have unrestricted access to all of the information in your profile. Regardless of the safeguards you think you’ve placed on your personal information, it is all visible and accessible to these users. Further, Facebook never deletes any of this information, even if you cancel your account. Thus, there is currently no way to eliminate the chance that someone could later dig up a potentially sensitive piece of information deleted by a user. Several other privacy risks are outlined in the article linked-to below.

This situation is a great example of how important and difficult it is to keep personal information personal. I had thought that I was being paranoid for not getting a Facebook account, but it turns out I was more right than I’d ever thought I would be. As a general rule, I recommend refraining from posting anything on the Internet that you wouldn’t want your mother — or your boss — to read.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/08/17/facebook-privacy-settlement.html

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