As I logged on to Facebook today I was met with a series of questions that default into settings that would share my information over the web. Information I had previously chosen to keep private. If I had not read the pop up window more carefully, it may have shared information with 'everyone.' 'Everyone' meaning "the world wide web." A spokesperson from security firm Sophos said in a statement to Mashable, ""These could be the most important clicks you ever make on Facebook. If you don't read carefully you could find that every post you make on Facebook, and your personal information, is visible to everyone in the world who has a computer rather than just your Facebook friends.
Let's make this clear. If you make your information available to 'everyone,' it actually means 'everyone, forever.' Because even if you change your mind, it's too late -- and although Facebook say they will remove it from your profile they will have no control about how it is used outside of Facebook.
That 30-second review kept my data somewhat private, for now at least, however users that chose to ignore the default to share their information may be sharing data they sooner keep private. With everyone from employers to the FBI checking Facebook for data, it seems that there is nowhere one can anonymously reside on the web. Those scandalous pictures you posted on Facebook may be funny now but years from now may cost your reputation and your job. Once you post anything on Facebook, you no longer own it. It belongs to Facebook and they can, if they chose use it however they see fit.
I am reminded again of the "White House gate crashers" who were famously exposed through their Facebook page. Pictures of the Salahi's can be found anywhere and everywhere, on the web, on TV, youtube, wherever. Sure, they were bragging and wanted the world to know they were at the White House, but I am pretty sure they didn't want the world to know just how they got to the White House.
Facebook has often been criticized about privacy issues from its inception. Now that it has to compete with the ever-growing giant Twitter, Facebook wants its users to loosen viewable information and update status more often. Facebook suggests the changes as "setting a new standard for user control." So how come it feels like I'm losing control?
In the end, you're data will help Facebook make more money with advertisers because it has intimate details of your behavior. Aren't you glad you can help?
Juggling life on the web is like being stuck in a luxury suite in a five star hotel. After a while, you appreciate the goodies but really need to get outside the see the sun. Facebook offers a lot, but it also takes liberties for what it offers. If your behavior is less than what it should be, which I believe is pretty much every single one of us, there seems to be a million more ways to be judged especially if you share your information with 'everyone.'