And even more alarming, Facebook's new privacy policy would endanger the privacy and safety of children as young as 13. Under Facebook's policy, 13 million users under the age of 18 may be allowed to share their personal information just like adult users. These younger users are the most vulnerable to predators on Facebook and the rest of the Internet and it should be impossible for them to inadvertently share their phone numbers and home addresses with anyone.
The boom of new technologies over the last several years has made it easier to keep in touch with family and friends, but it has also put an unprecedented amount of personal information into the hands of large companies and unknown third parties. It's important that Facebook protect its users by reversing their plans to permit developers to request and access this private information. It's even more important that Facebook protect the children who use its website by never allowing them to accidentally share their phone numbers and home addresses with people who may want to hurt them.
Howard Steven Friedman: You Are Responsible for Your Own (Facebook) Privacy
Jeff Fox: It's Time for Facebook to Grow Up
Now I'm an adult, and I have to worry about how the guy in the van with the candy is the LEAST of my worries.
Bring back the guy with the van. He was less creepy and menacing than FaceBook's privacy policy. And a lot more people knew to be wary of him.
With all due respect, Al, it's a lot easier to obtain someone's personal information than you realize. Your information is already out there... and if someone wants it, they'll get it. The only ones this policy really enables are amateurs, but they aren't likely to front a business to obtain your information.
I would also assume that you don't use an iPod Touch/iPad/iPhone/Android ever. Because you give that same information out on those devices as well, and you hit accept every time.
Oh, wait...you probably ARE an adolescent child. Never mind...my bad.
I, on the other hand, and a full grown male human. That kind of puts me at "adolescent child" until i've been dead for at least 20 years. At that point i may mature :b
Meanwhile, let this be a warning to Facebook users who don't wish to subject themselves to data mining threats, to either get off Facebook, or supply them with fake data.
I don't care about Facebook and neither should you. I do care about unemployed people who desire to work, and I hope you do too. Please rethink your priorities.
Will help you keep yourself private. Even as someone who had disabled almost all sharing, and kept everything visible to "Only Friends" I still had some loopholes.
That said, I never gave them my real last name, my phone number, my address, anything besides my e-mail address.
Facebook's customers are NOT their users; their customers are those who pay them money for access to users!
FB Users are the Product Facebook sells to their customers.
The FB site page, when I logged in which I seldom do, has a "lock" icon with the message: "Your account is not secure" and gives a link to click for more info. When I clicked on the button the next prompt asked me for my phone numbers! More info is supposed to lead to more security?? I think of all the kids out there who don't know any better and buy into the network.
FB's got a right to make money, but lying to people is fraudulant business as usual. Companies that use old paradigms fold after a while. The site is dissapointing in other ways too. Now they are going to rent movies, I hear. Movie preferences is another thing I wouldn't want to share with the world. Sorry FB //sarcasm.
When I reactivated my FB account recently in order to connect with someone, the homepage "wall" had a note on it from FB requesting I give them my e-mail password!! How horrifying to think that innocent kids might do that in order to feel more connected. What kind of craven monsters are Zuckerberg & Co.? He might be young, fresh, and have some innovative ideas but he clearly goes too far.
People with nothing to hide per se still don't want to be marketing targets, nor do we wish to give corporate groups without scruples access to our private correspondance or our e-mail address book! That he claims they wouldn't mis-use it is downright sa.ta.nic. Again, I think of the children out there in virtual realms wishing to connect, and saddened.
The only positive thing I can think to say is that this entire issue is an object lesson, a reality check, a discernment exercise. What kind of world do we want to live in? It's Time to Choose.
Al, you are now a Senator of the USA. You now have the power to do something about this. I think you have been doing some good work in DC, keep it up .
Never saw it coming that the best source of news is on the comedy channel and one of our best Senators is a comedian. Off topic there, but I had to throw it in.