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Facebook's privacy vote


Keel M.

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Facebook has sent all its users an email this week about a vote on its proposed changes to Data Use Policy - the site's term for its privacy policy.

The dry, quietly worded email is more significant than it sounds.

Unless 300 million people (a third of Facebook’s users) vote ‘against’ by Monday 8pm GMT, the networking giant will no longer allow users to vote on policy changes.

The move has caused concern among privacy groups, who say it’s “impossible” for 300 million to vote in the time period, and that users are worried that their “voices will no longer be heard”.

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IMO, no one should put anything on Facebook that they don't want completely/totally public. Every image, passing comment can (and probably will) be used by anyone to profile you for just about any purpose (marketing, employment, etc).

Personally, I do not have a Facebook account.

Edited by Lilly
poor grammar
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I've got an invitation to a bingo hall.

I've got quirky conversations with the peeps on my "friends" list.

I've got a colourful Facebook page.

I'm part of a stimulating "open" group.

However I've received no E-Mails.

Tbh whatever happens I'm not unduly concerned.

Facebook's nothing but a part-time hobby anyway.

All and sundry can have a look if they want but there's nothing particularly earth-shattering there.

Edited by Walnut Whip
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Everybody's privacy needs to be respected but consider this...

Tbh, being on Facebook is like hiding in plain sight as the old adage goes.

It's like not seeing your own personal page for the Facebook tree.

You need a certain combination of keywords in Google just to get a certain name.

Providing you've got the information about the actual name itself.

And the only person who knows is a friend or colleague.

A complete stranger is not going to suddenly gatecrash your own page.

And if you feeling really squeamish why don't you log off while it's idle.

The only partitions worth signing are for charities and things that effect you in your local community.

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Everybody's privacy needs to be respected but consider this...

Tbh, being on Facebook is like hiding in plain sight as the old adage goes.

It's like not seeing your own personal page for the Facebook tree.

You need a certain combination of keywords in Google just to get a certain name.

Providing you've got the information about the actual name itself.

And the only person who knows is a friend or colleague.

A complete stranger is not going to suddenly gatecrash your own page.

And if you feeling really squeamish why don't you log off while it's idle.

The only partitions worth signing are for charities and things that effect you in your local community.

You need to know who the real threat is on Facebook, it isn't another person on the net, but Facebook itself. Facebook sells your information to companies, provides advertisers your details if you click on their ads, and profiles you by scanning your messages to other people with an algorithm. They boast their algorithm can "find out if someone is gay before they even realise themselves". If you talk with others for example, about a high level crime over Facebook, you will be handed over to the authorities.

Every picture or piece of content you upload on Facebook, if unclaimed, is automatically property of Facebook. So the pictures you uploaded of yesterday's wedding don't belong to you, but Facebook. I think they keep content that has also been deleted.

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No? I received mine a few days ago.

I still haven't received a mail from FB, but it's okay. I don't have to worry, since i haven't put my real name in it nor have put any photos of mine. I just have a facebook page just to keep in touch with some specific people and learning something new every day for the things, i'm interested in ;)
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You need to know who the real threat is on Facebook, it isn't another person on the net, but Facebook itself. Facebook sells your information to companies, provides advertisers your details if you click on their ads, and profiles you by scanning your messages to other people with an algorithm. They boast their algorithm can "find out if someone is gay before they even realise themselves". If you talk with others for example, about a high level crime over Facebook, you will be handed over to the authorities.

Every picture or piece of content you upload on Facebook, if unclaimed, is automatically property of Facebook. So the pictures you uploaded of yesterday's wedding don't belong to you, but Facebook. I think they keep content that has also been deleted.

That's absolutely scandolous! But I'm not going to abandon it just yet.

There's quite a bit of stuff that needs ironing out through the "open" group.

The kind of stuff that has huge consquences for me and other like-minded people.

I also need to keep in touch with my family so I don't want a reputation as a pariah.

Btw I don't think I'll be getting a dawn raid anytime soon because of my actions on Facebook.

Well apart from partaking in the Green Fairy,rants and encouraging people to shoot pigeons.

But there is one curious detail I need to get off my chest...

There's been some missing threads from the "open" group.

Do you think the guys in charge of Facebook would stoop that low and delete them?

Edited by Walnut Whip
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That's absolutely scandolous! But I'm not going to abandon it just yet.

There's quite a bit of stuff that needs ironing out through the "open" group.

The kind of stuff that has huge consquences for me and other like-minded people.

I also need to keep in touch with my family so I don't want a reputation as a pariah.

Btw I don't think I'll be getting a dawn raid anytime soon because of my actions on Facebook.

Well apart from partaking in the Green Fairy,rants and encouraging people to shoot pigeons.

But there is one curious detail I need to get off my chest...

There's been some missing threads from the "open" group.

Do you think the guys in charge of Facebook would stoop that low and delete them?

I still have Facebook too and a university tutor of mine I had told the tute about this and he still has Facebook too. Tips: Include misleading or false information, change your gender, change your Facebook name to something that would throw searches off your legitimate name (maybe different last name), basically include as little of your life as possible. Another video presentation I watched that is quite a good one (I'll dig it up and post it on here) and should outline a lot of important facts.

Deleting threads, possibly but it goes hand in hand with suspending the users simultaneously. So effectively a user can get banned for a period of time given the amount of offences that have been made by the user.

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I still have Facebook too and a university tutor of mine I had told the tute about this and he still has Facebook too. Tips: Include misleading or false information, change your gender, change your Facebook name to something that would throw searches off your legitimate name (maybe different last name), basically include as little of your life as possible. Another video presentation I watched that is quite a good one (I'll dig it up and post it on here) and should outline a lot of important facts.

Deleting threads, possibly but it goes hand in hand with suspending the users simultaneously. So effectively a user can get banned for a period of time given the amount of offences that have been made by the user.

The only time I use Facebook now is tuning into updates.

I could do as you suggest and fill in bogus details but the ones in my immediate circle will still cotton on to it.

However my school details are clearly visible and it won't be much of a hardship to get rid of it.

There's no clear indication of where I live and in fact if I'm unemployed or not.

However the "open" group is more of a problem and I can't ask the guy who organised it to just shut it down.

There's quite a few personal details that could be dynamite in the wrong hands.

But I've got to keep on the guys good side and I can't think of any approach to reach him.

It has to stay open because it's a source of comfort to some people.

If you knew the full story you'll probably understand the motive behind it.

Btw my background on my Facebook page is Blencathra.

I'm no budding mountaineer so it could be construed as a shock.

Edited by Walnut Whip
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I could not care less what facebook does with my data in terms of advertising. If it means they'll provide me more ads about things I'm interested in, so be it. My local grocery store does pretty much the same thing too. In fact, my TV, all stores, my bank, EVERYONE is compiling your data and using it or selling it. It's a fact of life.

And, I love my Facebook. It's how I keep in touch with family and friends. It's how I keep track of what I'm going out to do on weekends.

I have my security settings dialed in. I've built audience lists, I don't add people I don't know in real life (with just a very few exceptions) I don't generally comment on public posts, and none of my posts are displayed publically.

If you know how to use Facebook and configure it correctly, it's not a problem... unfortunately, most people don't know how.

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Facebook can follow me to hell for all I care. We talk about the most inane crap ,and the thing is,all other site you go to ,profile you . You can't be on line at all,to avoid it all.

I also use my grandmother's name for my profile .

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The only time I use Facebook now is tuning into updates.

I could do as you suggest and fill in bogus details but the ones in my immediate circle will still cotton on to it.

However my school details are clearly visible and it won't be much of a hardship to get rid of it.

There's no clear indication of where I live and in fact if I'm unemployed or not.

However the "open" group is more of a problem and I can't ask the guy who organised it to just shut it down.

There's quite a few personal details that could be dynamite in the wrong hands.

But I've got to keep on the guys good side and I can't think of any approach to reach him.

It has to stay open because it's a source of comfort to some people.

If you knew the full story you'll probably understand the motive behind it.

Btw my background on my Facebook page is Blencathra.

I'm no budding mountaineer so it could be construed as a shock.

Are there a lot of members in this group? Any members with a more than necessary amount of friends? ( primarily asking this as their activity on the group could be known to 1000+ people and spread the groups existence around)

If there are any of your details or anyone's on there you could let them know about and probably remove if you can.

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I could not care less what facebook does with my data in terms of advertising. If it means they'll provide me more ads about things I'm interested in, so be it. My local grocery store does pretty much the same thing too. In fact, my TV, all stores, my bank, EVERYONE is compiling your data and using it or selling it. It's a fact of life.

And, I love my Facebook. It's how I keep in touch with family and friends. It's how I keep track of what I'm going out to do on weekends.

I have my security settings dialed in. I've built audience lists, I don't add people I don't know in real life (with just a very few exceptions) I don't generally comment on public posts, and none of my posts are displayed publically.

If you know how to use Facebook and configure it correctly, it's not a problem... unfortunately, most people don't know how.

Well the problem with Facebook selling your information is that they don't need to keep it anonymous. Google, Microsoft and maybe even your local grocery states that your information anonymous which is the key difference.

Sure I wouldn't mind using google and have them see how I is their applications or the queries made and location to gear advertisements towards me that relate to the criteria as long as it is anonymous.

With Facebook, everything from your phone number to your old high school is information that can be given away without any anonymity.

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Well the problem with Facebook selling your information is that they don't need to keep it anonymous. Google, Microsoft and maybe even your local grocery states that your information anonymous which is the key difference.

Sure I wouldn't mind using google and have them see how I is their applications or the queries made and location to gear advertisements towards me that relate to the criteria as long as it is anonymous.

With Facebook, everything from your phone number to your old high school is information that can be given away without any anonymity.

My phone number is a secret? My high school is a secret?

The answer is incredibly simple: Don't put anything you don't want facebook to know on facebook.

Seriously I could care less if this passes or not. Because I don't have anything on Facebook that is a secret. They can sell my information to whatever they want. They provide an amusing free service to keep in contact for many people without forcing us to pay or making extremely annoying advertisements. If they use the fact I "liked" a shoe brand on Facebook and selled that information to a company. Why do I care?

Edited by Kazoo
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Are there a lot of members in this group? Any members with a more than necessary amount of friends? ( primarily asking this as their activity on the group could be known to 1000+ people and spread the groups existence around)

If there are any of your details or anyone's on there you could let them know about and probably remove if you can.

It's only a select gang of about fifty or sixty which is pretty minute in the grand scheme of things.

However this "open group" efforts seen to be petering out while the novelty wears off.

There's going to be some good news soon which might make it moot anyway.

The same thing applies to my own Facebook page with again only fifty odd people.

If you've talking about six degrees of separation my other "friends" would disturb you.

Things could easily be spread between this lot.

Edited by Walnut Whip
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My phone number is a secret? My high school is a secret?

The answer is incredibly simple: Don't put anything you don't want facebook to know on facebook.

Seriously I could care less if this passes or not. Because I don't have anything on Facebook that is a secret. They can sell my information to whatever they want. They provide an amusing free service to keep in contact for many people without forcing us to pay or making extremely annoying advertisements. If they use the fact I "liked" a shoe brand on Facebook and selled that information to a company. Why do I care?

Do you think that business practise is ethical?

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It's only a select gang of about fifty or sixty which is pretty minute in the grand scheme of things.

However this "open group" efforts seen to be petering out while the novelty wears off.

There's going to be some good news soon which might make it moot anyway.

The same thing applies to my own Facebook page with again only fifty odd people.

If you've talking about six degrees of separation my other "friends" would disturb you.

Things could easily be spread between this lot.

Usually in cases like these I wouldn't be worried about much. You should be ok. The huge amount of groups out there, from closed to open, they'd probably only really target ones that could turn to high crime and probably work on profiling users for the authorities. The problem I have is that they have the ability to do things like this.

Even if it is a free service, I don't believe the practice to be ethical. Google offers a wider array of free services (even including an alternative to Facebook), does Google try to tuck away the fine print into what you are really signing up for? Does Google increase the terms and conditions they have by tens and tens of pages each time? Google notifies users when they make changes to it. Facebook is obviously trying to deter more and more users from reading the t&c and sneak some more stuff in and pretty much pass whatever they can and try to justify it by saying, "hey, it's free".

The market they are in is extremely competitive and without the people on their side, they're nothing, it's what they are comprised of after all.

Edited by Orcseeker
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What is it with such and so's inviting you to "birthdays" and "diamond dash"?

My sister was one of these "such and so's" and she insisted it was news to her.

After hearing all these horror stories I know who the real culprit is...

It's Facebook deploying their enormous army of autobots and stealing people's identities.

Btw I couldn't believe the indifference of that other guy..

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Well the problem with Facebook selling your information is that they don't need to keep it anonymous. Google, Microsoft and maybe even your local grocery states that your information anonymous which is the key difference.

Sure I wouldn't mind using google and have them see how I is their applications or the queries made and location to gear advertisements towards me that relate to the criteria as long as it is anonymous.

With Facebook, everything from your phone number to your old high school is information that can be given away without any anonymity.

My phone number (which isn't on Facebook anyway) and my high school aren't a secret and they never were. Where I was hanging out last Friday night wasn't a secret either.

If it was a secret, and I didn't want people to know I was at Slim's Last Chance in Seattle last Friday night, I would do the following on Facebook:

1. I wouldn't "join" an Invite to the event that was going on there.

2. I would change my security settings so no one could "check me in" there.

3 I would change me security settings so no one could tag me in a photo there.

The reality is that there's nothing on my Facebook page that I haven't already reviewed and I don't post dumb stuff that I don't want people I don't know to see, which they can't anyway.

I don't play games on Facebook, I don't go around liking stupid pages for Tide laundry soap or Wal-Mart. I have liked a few pages for my favorite local bands and some small businesses who post coupons I can use on occasion.

'm going to guess Facebook isn't using my information for much since it's not all that interesting to them or anyone else for that matter.

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What is it with such and so's inviting you to "birthdays" and "diamond dash"?

My sister was one of these "such and so's" and she insisted it was news to her.

After hearing all these horror stories I know who the real culprit is...

It's Facebook deploying their enormous army of autobots and stealing people's identities.

Btw I couldn't believe the indifference of that other guy..

There are a lot of exploits and a lot of small text people don't read when using applications on facebook

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My phone number (which isn't on Facebook anyway) and my high school aren't a secret and they never were. Where I was hanging out last Friday night wasn't a secret either.

If it was a secret, and I didn't want people to know I was at Slim's Last Chance in Seattle last Friday night, I would do the following on Facebook:

1. I wouldn't "join" an Invite to the event that was going on there.

2. I would change my security settings so no one could "check me in" there.

3 I would change me security settings so no one could tag me in a photo there.

The reality is that there's nothing on my Facebook page that I haven't already reviewed and I don't post dumb stuff that I don't want people I don't know to see, which they can't anyway.

I don't play games on Facebook, I don't go around liking stupid pages for Tide laundry soap or Wal-Mart. I have liked a few pages for my favorite local bands and some small businesses who post coupons I can use on occasion.

'm going to guess Facebook isn't using my information for much since it's not all that interesting to them or anyone else for that matter.

I understand you are taking a lot of precautions and devaluing of your information. But my main point is, is that their process isn't exactly ethical. You have to agree on that note.

Sure, everyone can argue "it's in the policy" but who has the time to read through hundreds of lines of text of drivel these days? They exploit the fact that most people don't actually read this and they know it and like I said earlier, extend the policies by many more pages every time they update. Basically to make it as long winded as possible to deter people from reading it.

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I understand you are taking a lot of precautions and devaluing of your information. But my main point is, is that their process isn't exactly ethical. You have to agree on that note.

Sure, everyone can argue "it's in the policy" but who has the time to read through hundreds of lines of text of drivel these days? They exploit the fact that most people don't actually read this and they know it and like I said earlier, extend the policies by many more pages every time they update. Basically to make it as long winded as possible to deter people from reading it.

I always read the TOS and EULAs... but then again, I worked for Microsoft for 20+/- years. It's not that hard to read and understand if you value your right to use the software.

If I was Facebook and had all that data at my disposal, I'd use it in any way that was legal and didnt' drive my customers/users away. I'm just evil I guess.

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