Chief Privacy Officer for Facebook, Erin Egan, posted a blog on Friday 23 March, 2012, that highlighted Facebook’s concern at people abusing their authority by requesting user details and passwords. It seems a number of employers have been requesting both current and prospective employees to hand over their Facebook account passwords. Facebook is outraged that employers would even think of doing such a thing as this totally contravenes the privacy policies set out by Facebook.

Egan wrote: “If you are a Facebook user, you should never have to share your password, let anyone access your account, or do anything that might jeopardize the security of your account or violate the privacy of your friends.  We have worked really hard at Facebook to give you the tools to control who sees your information.

As a user, you shouldn’t be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job.  And as the friend of a user, you shouldn’t have to worry that your private information or communications will be revealed to someone you don’t know and didn’t intend to share with just because that user is looking for a job.”

Egan also made a convincing argument as to why employers are at risk when they ask for employee passwords: “We don’t think employers should be asking prospective employees to provide their passwords because we don’t think it’s the right thing to do.  But it also may cause problems for the employers that they are not anticipating.  For example, if an employer sees on Facebook that someone is a member of a protected group (e.g. over a certain age, etc.) that employer may open themselves up to claims of discrimination if they don’t hire that person.”

Facebook has “made it a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to share or solicit a Facebook password.” They also state that if need be, they would take legal action should the need arise, against anyone infringing on their Privacy Policy.

While I appreciate Facebook’s sincere concern at these privacy violations, and Egan has written a convincing blog addressing the issues, I can’t help but feel that this blog was not the best place to address the issue. I am quite sure that those already infringing on the privacy policies of Facebook, probably don’t know what the policies are, or even care what they are. This leads me to believe that they probably will not even read Egan’s blog, but maybe that’s just the pessimist in me and Egan’s blog will in fact change the actions of these employers who, in infringing the Facebook privacy policies, clearly have no respect for the privacy of their employees or potential employees.

“Facebook has always been committed to being transparent about the information you have stored with us – and we have led the internet in building tools to give people the ability to see and control what they share.
But we can also always do better. I’m committed to making Facebook the leader in transparency and control around privacy.”

This quote comes from a blog written by Mark Zuckerberg on 29 November 2011. The blog was written in response to the announcement made by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) that Facebook has agreed to settle the charges made by the FTC that Facebook has deceived their users. The FTC was particularly concerned with the fact the Facebook has made promises about the security and privacy of their users information but has failed to live up to these promises.

In Mark Zuckergerg’s blog, he agrees that Facebook has had some problems in the past and has not always notified users about changes that would change their privacy settings and more. He also states that they are doing everything they can to ensure that this does not happen again; including undertaking to do biannual independent audits of their privacy practices to confirm that they are indeed living up to the commitments they make.

Some of the other requirements of the settlement as laid out by the FTC state that Facebook is:

– barred from making misrepresentations about the privacy or security of consumers’ personal information;

– required to obtain consumers’ affirmative express consent before enacting changes that override their privacy preferences;

– required to prevent anyone from accessing a user’s material more than 30 days after the user has deleted his or her account;

I find it quite refreshing that not only has Facebook agreed to the settlement but also seems to be taking this all very seriously. Whether it is a brilliant PR strategy or an earnest desire to be better and keep their users feeling safe, Facebook has played its cards right.

Zuckerberg starts his blog by saying:

“I founded Facebook on the idea that people want to share and connect with people in their lives, but to do this everyone needs complete control over who they share with at all times.

This idea has been the core of Facebook since day one. When I built the first version of Facebook, almost nobody I knew wanted a public page on the internet. That seemed scary. But as long as they could make their page private, they felt safe sharing with their friends online. Control was key. With Facebook, for the first time, people had the tools they needed to do this. That’s how Facebook became the world’s biggest community online.  We made it easy for people to feel comfortable sharing things about their real lives.”

I’m quite sure this settlement agreed to by Facebook will not deter any users or potential users from using Facebook, but rather encourage people to do more and say more. Rather clever, don’t you think?

To be honest, when I first heard about Facebook Timeline, I was really quite intrigued. So I did a bit of reading up to find out what all the buzz has been. It seems that a lot of people have got their knickers in a knot about Timeline. It’s quite an innovative upgrade, and looks soo cool, but as usual, Timeline is raising a host of privacy concerns for Facebookers.

I have never been one to moan & groan every time Facebook rolls out updates; it’s really much of a muchness to me. However, when I first watched the video below, I have to say that at first, I felt a little weird about Timeline. I mean, people being able to view my “life story” so easily did make me feel a little uncomfortable. To see what I mean, check it out here; Introducing Timeline – A New Kind of Profile.

To add to that, there are a few things that are going take quite a few people off guard. For example, instead of having to click “Like” on articles that you enjoy, you will be able to add it to your Timeline. The interesting thing here, is that if you make use of auto-sharing apps, some of the apps have pre-enabled your activity on websites to be automatically added to your Timeline. So unless you manually disable this function, all of your article post views will be posted to your Timeline.

Now this, is something that would freak a lot of people out! Especially for the unsuspecting, non-techno savvy Joe Soaps! Can you imagine every article post you read, every video you watch, every photo you view, being automatically shared on Facebook – for all to see? Seems that we are entering an age where it is becoming increasingly difficult to hide what we do online!

Fortunately, there definitely are ways and means of protecting your privacy on Timeline, just know it could possibly take a bit of work depending on how private you are, or, depending on how much of your younger, wilder years, you would rather stay hidden.

At the moment, if you simply must try Timeline out before it becomes easily accessible, you can go to this link and set it up. The directions given in Mashable’s article,  How to Enable the New Facebook Timeline NOW, are very helpful. If not, it’s reported that in the next few weeks Timeline will become available to the public, and you can try it out then.

I must admit that I am still curious, and I am looking forward to trying it out. My personal feeling, is that once we get the hang of Timeline, and once the dust has settled over privacy controls, that we will get used to it in the same way that we get used to all of the other Facebook updates. And eventually, we will all forget about how Facebook used to be, just as we always do.

Google has tried hard over the years to develop a social network that is the equivalent of their search engine, but nothing seemed to make the cut. Their first attempt, Orkut, may have been a success in Brazil, but seriously, how many of us outside of Brazil have ever even heard of it? The second attempt was Google buzz, which I’m sure most of us have actually heard of, but not for the reasons Google was looking for. Google Buzz become infamous last year over privacy concerns, and so was not at all successful. Now, however, comes attempt number three, and this time, according to reports at least, Google just might have a winner.

Google+ was released in its beta version for selected people a couple of weeks ago, and already has received some good reviews. In the words of MG Siegler from TechCrunch, “If Google Buzz Is a black Hole For Sharing Traffic, Google+ Is The Big Bang”.

Google+ has unashamedly used some features of Facebook, such as the +1 button being the equivalent to the “like” button.

“Circles” are also a major feature in Google+. Like the “groups in Facebook, circles allow you to arrange your friends depending on your relationship. Every friend you add has to fit into certain circles in order to be added as your friends. You start off with four basic circles, Friends, Family, Following and Acquaintances, and you can add more circles as needed. You are the only one who will ever know what circles each person is in, and they can be in more than one circle.

Another interesting feature is Hangout, a video calling system that allows up to ten people to talk to each other in a group. Facebook’s announcement of Skype integration for one-on-one video chat doesn’t sound so impressive after that, I must admit…

Sparks is a content sharing feature that sends you information on topics you have selected. It seems to be a bit like a mixture between Stumbleupon and Google Alerts.

Unfortunately most of us will have to wait a little longer to try it out. Initially, it was available to just select invitees who could then invite others to join, but there was such a massive amount of people clamoring for invites that it was closed the next day. However, you can still register your interest on their site, so that as soon as it opens up again you are notified.

It is well-known that there is a war going on between Facebook and Microsoft on one side, and Google on the other. Google has long had the upper hand when it comes to search engines, but hasn’t quite been able to compete with Facebook when it comes to social media, especially since Facebook recently passed 750 million members.  This may just be their chance…

A couple of weeks ago, I finally got around to watching The Social Network, a film based on the early days of Facebook. (Although, since it is only about six years old, we could still be in what will considered the “early days”). In the film, you could see the Facebook team watch as the number of members hit the 100 000 mark.

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Recently, there have been a few articles on the TIME magazine about the predicted end of the PC.  With millions and millions of PCs in use all around the world, is this prediction maybe a little premature?

The story goes like this. Both Microsoft and Apple have recently been releasing and developing technology that goes beyond the simple PC. With tablets, smart phones and cloud computing, why would we even need clunky desktops and laptops?

For example, the successor to the current Windows 7, (codenamed Windows 8, I know, very original of them…) is an operating system designed primarily for tablets, although it will be able to work on other items, and is apparently much like the current Windows 7 for phones.

There are a few problems with this story. For one, a definition of PC may be needed. As Henry McCracken from TIME’s Techland writes, the definition of PC according to Miriam Webster’s dictionary is:

Personal computer

noun
a general-purpose computer equipped with a microprocessor and designed to run especially commercial software (as a word processor or Internet browser) for an individual user

Um… Sounds a bit like a tablet, don’t you think? Maybe even a smart phone?

Even the components that traditionally make up a “PC” can be found in many other gadgets like the tablet and smart phone, among others. Screen, keyboard (if you want to be pedantic, you could even say QWERTY keyboard), processing power, storage, etc. Yep, last I checked, these could all apply to my phone…

The second problem, is that many people just won’t want to change from their PCs too soon. Often, a PC can be seen as a tool for serious work, when you are sitting in your office typing out a report for your boss. A tablet is great for travel and flexibility, but may not be as popular for other stuff just yet.

Maybe we should stop and think a bit before declaring things obsolete. Three years ago, there was an article punting the end of Facebook, a couple of days ago I read another article saying that Facebook is killing websites!

Having joined the social networking site Facebook three weeks ago, I have realised that I am uniquely suited to helping people make the most of their Facebook experience. This is why I have created a guide to the site, hopefully you will all profit greatly by my experience.

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Have you ever commented on Facebook, only to see a mistake as soon as you post it? Sure, you can delete it and start over, but who wants to spend the time rewriting, especially if it was a long comment.

Facebook has just unveiled a new feature that allows you to go back and edit comments within a few seconds after you have posted them, similar to the way you are able to edit messages on Skype. “A few seconds” means just that though, one estimate was that it took just twelve seconds before your only option is to delete and start all over, hopefully without the error this time.

This handy trick is useful if you realise you have made a spelling, or grammar mistake, or even if you suddenly realise that you have one of your facts wrong. There are however, a couple of catches other than the time limit (aren’t there always?)

First of all, if the person whose page you are commenting on, has set their account to email them with comments, they will receive both the original and the edited versions. This means that you can’t make nasty comments on your boss’s page, and then quickly edit it – your boss will still see the unedited version.

The second thing is that if someone else comments before you have managed to edit, you will no longer be able to do anything. Again, however, you could just delete!

The edit option can be found in the same place as the delete option, simple click on the small “x” in the top right hand corner of the comment, and the options will show.

Apparently, Facebook put this new feature into place because it will help people to make more thoughtful, involved comments, which equal more site interaction, and therefore more user satisfaction.

On Monday morning (2 May 2011) I was talking to my younger sister, who was also on Facebook at the same time. Suddenly she said, “Did you know bin Laden is dead?” I’ll admit, I was a bit sceptical, knowing that news sites are not her usual haunt on the internet. “No, really, it’s all over Facebook.” And that was how I too learnt about the death of Osama bin Laden. Not through the radio, or TV, or any type of news site, but through Facebook posts. (more…)

Have you ever been the victim of a Facebook scam? Usually when I see an email scam, (Your distant relative in North Eastern Guatemala has died leaving you a fortune! Send me money so I can arrange for you to get the entire fortune!) I think it is so obviously a scam, that how could anyone fall for it? Not so with Facebook and other social media scams. (more…)