Social Networking and YOU
A presentation for the SDC
Carey Larson
Michael Moss
Social Networking, what’s the big
deal?
Privacy!
"You are not Facebook's customer. You are the
product that they sell to their real customers advertisers. Forget this at your peril."
What’s at stake
The Evolution of Facebook Privacy
But I can control my privacy settings!
• Not if you use applications (games, quizzes,
etc)
"I funded the company myself but I did every horrible thing in the book
to, just to get revenues right away.”
-Zynga CEO, Creator of Mafia Wars and Farmville
• Not if you have friends
• Good luck keeping up with the changes
Facebook Personal Data a Security Risk
“Making more user information public has both privacy
and security dangers, experts warn.
Some experts also say that the increase in information
disclosure could have a serious side-effect--opening up
new opportunities for hackers. Kevin Johnson, a senior
researcher with security firm InGuardians, uses
Facebook as a starting point for his job: testing
companies' network security. Many times, he says, the
most significant vulnerabilities are not in hardware or
software, but in a users' use of social networks.”
Facebook has changed!
Or have they?
Empty Gestures: A new look and feel, for the same old policy
I Quit!
Report: Go ahead, quit Facebook, but they'll retain
and data mine your info
“…deleting is different from deactivating, and the
deletion process isn't easy for everyone to figure
out. Still, even if you do manage to truly delete
your account once and for all, you'll never see
that data again. But Facebook will. They still have
that information and will continue to use it for
data mining.”
It gets better!
Big Brother is watching:
Facebook's plugins are now used by more than
100,000 sites. This means affiliated sites can
report your visit and help track you online.
What can you do?
• You can “quit”
– But all my friends/family/colleagues are there!
– This doesn’t remove all your info
– It’s not an easy process
• Falsify your information
– An online alias
– Terms of use violation
• You can switch to another service
– Sadly other social networks aren’t as ubiquitous
– You may lose some contacts
– Other services have to make money too
It’s not just Facebook
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MySpace
Twitter
Google
LiveJournal
Your web browser
Etc
Are we going off the grid?
Public disclosure and personal responsibility
Sensible advice:
“I don't want to counsel a generation that they should
practice misrepresentation and deceit. I don't want to
teach them not to post because they're afraid. And you
can't get away from the disclosure anyways. But they
should exercise some caution, and practice some
discretion. You have to live like a celebrity, knowing
there are cameras everywhere. Take some care in what
you do, and what you say, and don't leave yourself
exposed to the underworld that may be out there.”
- Stephen Downes