- “Why I’m quitting Facebook” by Douglas Rushkoff (CNN; 2013.02.25) – http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/25/opinion/rushkoff-why-im-quitting-facebook/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
- I have always argued for engaging with technology as conscious human beings and dispensing with technologies that take that agency away.
Facebook is just such a technology. It does things on our behalf when we’re not even there. It actively misrepresents us to our friends, and worse misrepresents those who have befriended us to still others. To enable this dysfunctional situation — I call it “digiphrenia” — would be at the very least hypocritical.
- Facebook does not exist to help us make friends, but to turn our network of connections, brand preferences and activities over time — our “social graphs” — into money for others.
- The true end users of Facebook are the marketers who want to reach and influence us. They are Facebook’s paying customers; we are the product. And we are its workers. The countless hours that we — and the young, particularly — spend on our profiles are the unpaid labor on which Facebook justifies its stock valuation.
- I have always argued for engaging with technology as conscious human beings and dispensing with technologies that take that agency away.
- “Facebook Is Recycling Your Likes To Promote Stories You’ve Never Seen To All Your Friends” by Anthony Wing Kosner (Forbes; 2013.01.21) – http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/01/21/facebook-is-recycling-your-likes-to-promote-stories-youve-never-seen-to-all-your-friends/
- “Why are dead people liking stuff on Facebook?” by Bernard Meisler (ReadWrite > Social; 2012.12.11) – http://readwrite.com/2012/12/11/why-are-dead-people-liking-stuff-on-facebook
2013.02.26
Facebook sinking even deeper
2012.06.27
2011.11.15
New Facebook machinations
- Facebook Privacy section at EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) – http://epic.org/privacy/facebook/
- Facebook and the Facial Identification of Users – http://epic.org/privacy/facebook/facebook_and_facial_recognitio.html
- “Facebook to alter privacy practices following FTC ruling” by Greg Masters (SC Magazine; 2011.11.29) – http://www.scmagazineus.com/facebook-to-alter-privacy-practices-following-ftc-ruling/article/217775/
- Users were deceived by Facebook, and now the social media giant is paying the price.
- “Facebook is obligated to keep the promises about privacy that it makes to its hundreds of millions of users,” Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the FTC, said in a statement. “Facebook’s innovation does not have to come at the expense of consumer privacy.”
- The FTC charges chronicle a number of misleading or untrue assertions about privacy that Facebook made, but did not keep, including: not warning users when a change to its “Friend List” allowed private information to be exposed; stating that third-party apps would not access personal information beyond what they needed to operate; claiming that the “Verified Apps” program certified the security of participating apps; promising users it would not share personal data with advertisers; and insisting that it complied with the U.S.-European Union Safe Harbor Framework that governs data transfer between the United States and certain European nations.
- “Facebook Settles FTC Charges That It Deceived Consumers By Failing To Keep Privacy Promises” (FTC; 2011.11.29) – http://ftc.gov/opa/2011/11/privacysettlement.shtm
- In December 2009, Facebook changed its website so certain information that users may have designated as private – such as their Friends List – was made public. They didn’t warn users that this change was coming, or get their approval in advance.
- Facebook represented that third-party apps that users’ installed would have access only to user information that they needed to operate. In fact, the apps could access nearly all of users’ personal data – data the apps didn’t need.
- Facebook told users they could restrict sharing of data to limited audiences – for example with “Friends Only.” In fact, selecting “Friends Only” did not prevent their information from being shared with third-party applications their friends used.
- Facebook had a “Verified Apps” program & claimed it certified the security of participating apps. It didn’t.
- Facebook promised users that it would not share their personal information with advertisers. It did.
- Facebook claimed that when users deactivated or deleted their accounts, their photos and videos would be inaccessible. But Facebook allowed access to the content, even after users had deactivated or deleted their accounts.
- Facebook claimed that it complied with the U.S.- EU Safe Harbor Framework that governs data transfer between the U.S. and the European Union. It didn’t.
- “24 year old student lights match: Europe versus Facebook” by Kim Cameron (Identity Weblog; 2011.10.13) – http://www.identityblog.com/?p=1201/li>
- Europe vs Facebook – http://europe-v-facebook.org/EN/en.html
- Facebook’s Data Pool – http://europe-v-facebook.org/EN/Data_Pool/data_pool.html#Target
- europe-v-facebook.org YouTube channel – http://www.youtube.com/user/europevfacebook#p/c/8ED10AB2E76CD62E
- “Facebook Ireland accused of creating ‘shadow profiles’ on users, nonusers” by Laura Locke (CNet; 2011.10.21) – http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20123919-93/facebook-ireland-accused-of-creating-shadow-profiles-on-users-nonusers/
- “Facebook Patent to Track Users Even When They are Not Logged In to Facebook” by Bruce Scheier (2011.10.24)- http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2011/10/facebook_patent.html
Related here: Facebook privacy? What Facebook privacy? – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/facebook-privacy-what-facebook-privacy/ | Facebook foolies – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/facebook-foolies/ | Unending stream of Facebook privacy news – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/unending-stream-of-facebook-privacy-news/ | More Facebook news – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/more-facebook-news/ | Facebook monkeying again with user trust model – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/facebook-monkeying-again-with-user-trust-model/ | Scan for your Facebook privacy – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/i-want-you-to-scan-for-facebook-privacy/ | Facebook leaks users IDs to advertisers – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/facebook-leaks-user-ids-to-advertisers/ | Facebook mulls U-turn on privacy – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/facebook-mulls-u-turn-on-privacy/ | Mark Zuckerberg’s birthday present: Facebook in crisis – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/mark-zuckerbergs-birthday-present-facebook-in-crisis/ | Temptest in a teapot – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/1202/
2011.05.12
Facebook foolies
- “Facebook Admits Hiring PR Company for Google Smear Campaign” (International Business Times > San Francisco edition; 2011.05.13) – http://sanfrancisco.ibtimes.com/articles/145361/20110513/facebook-admits-hiring-pr-company-for-google-smear-campaign.htm
- “‘Facebook has sparked open warfare in dotcom land’” (The Telegraph; 2011.05.13) – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/8512730/Facebook-has-sparked-open-warfare-in-dotcom-land.html – A leading public relations executive has defended Facebook’s recent attempt to smear Google in the US press using a top PR firm, saying dirty tricks are not unusual.
- “How big firms bash their rivals, in public and private” by Robert Plummer (BBC News; 2011.05.13) – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13387807
- “Update: Facebook says no ‘smear’ campaign intended” by Tim Mullaney (USA TODAY; 2011.05.12) – http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2011/05/report-facebook-launched-smear-campaign-against-google/1
- “Facebook’s Stealth Attack on Google Exposes Its Own Privacy Problem” by Steven Levy (Wired; 2011.05.12) – http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/05/facebook-privacy-problems/
- “Facebook vs. Google fight turns nasty” by Julianne Pepitone (CNNMoney > Tech; 2011.05.12) – http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/12/technology/facebook_google/
- Compromising email exchange – http://pastebin.com/zaeTeJeJ
- “Smear Story Source Speaks: Facebook Wanted to Stab Google in the Back” (BeatBeat; 2011.05.12) – http://www.betabeat.com/2011/05/12/smear-story-source-speaks-facebook-wanted-to-stab-google-in-the-back/
- “Facebook Hired PR Firm to Run Smear Campaign Against Google” by Chloe Albanesius By Chloe Albanesius (PCMagazine; 2011.05.12) – http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2385263,00.asp
- “Facebook’s Embarrassing Secret Campaign To Discredit Google Revealed (UPDATE)” (The Huffington Post; 2011.05.12) – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/12/facebook-google-smear_n_860942.html
- “The Irony of Facebook’s Secret PR War Against Google” by Adam Clark Estes (The Atlantic Wire; 2011.05.12) – http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/05/irony-behind-facebooks-secret-pr-war-against-google/37619/
- “Sleazy PR Firm Throws Scummy Facebook Under The Sordid Bus” by MG Siegler (Tech Crucnh; 2011.05.12) – http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/12/swallowing-puke/
- “Facebook Loses Much Face In Secret Smear On Google” by Michael Arrington (Tech Crucnh; 2011.05.12) – http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/12/facebook-loses-much-face-in-secret-smear-on-google/
- “PR FIRM: Facebook Asked Us To Do Something Sleazy And We Never Should Have Done It” by Henry Blodget (Business Insider; 2011.05.12) – http://www.businessinsider.com/burson-marsteller-facebook-2011-5
- “Facebook Embraces J. Edgar Hoover: Anti-Google Lie Campaign Revealed” by Lauren Weinstein (Lauren Weinstein’s Blog; 2011.05.12) – http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000852.html
- “Facebook Busted in Clumsy Smear on Google” by Dan Lyons (The Daily Beast; 2011.05.12) – http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-05-12/facebook-busted-in-clumsy-smear-attempt-on-google
- The social network secretly hired a PR firm to plant negative stories about the search giant, The Daily Beast’s Dan Lyons reveals—a caper that is blowing up in their face, and escalating their war. …
- “Burson Marsteller, Facebook, Scandal: B-M Says Facebook Assignment “Should Have Been Declined”” by Tonya Garcia (PRNewser; 2011.05.12) – http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/b-m-says-facebook-assignment-should-have-been-declined_b20772
- “Attempt to Involve Me in Anti-Google “Astroturf Lies” PR Campaign” by Lauren Weinstein (Lauren Weinstein’s Blog; 2011.05.11) – http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000850.html
- “BUSTED: Former CNBC Tech Reporter Jim Goldman Caught Spreading Lies About Google For Unnamed PR Client” by Henry Blodget (Business Insider; 2011.05.10) – http://www.businessinsider.com/busted-former-cnbc-tech-reporter-jim-goldman-lies-about-google-2011-5
- “B-M Pitch on Behalf of Unnamed Client Raises Ethical Questions” by Tonya Garcia (PRNewser; 2011.05.10) – http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/b-m-pitch-on-behalf-of-unnamed-client-raises-ethical-questions_b20643
2010.12.28
2010.10.08
More Facebook news
2010.10.07:
- “Facebook Groups to offer users more control” by Charles Arthur (Guardian; 2010.10.07) – http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/oct/07/facebook-groups
- “What do I need to know about the new Facebook groups?” (Guardian; 2010.10.07) – http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/pda/2010/oct/07/facebook-groups
2010.10.06:
- “Facebook Annouces New Groups and Download Information Feature” (TweakYourLife; 2010.10.06)- http://tweakyourlife.com/119/facebook-annouces-new-groups-and-download-information-feature/
- “Facebook Has Groups…Trying to be Exclusive Again” (TweakYourLife; 2010.10.06)- http://tweakyourlife.com/127/facebook-groups-trying-to-be-exclusive-again/
- “Is your private phone number on Facebook? Probably. And so are your friends'” – http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/oct/06/facebook-privacy-phone-numbers-upload
- Uploads from iPhones using the Facebook app will push all your contacts onto Facebook’s servers – where they’ll be matched against any and everyone
- “Enjoy the film. Then try Facebook’s real challenge: restoring your privacy” by Thimoty Garton Ash – http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/06/enjoy-the-film-facebook-privacy-challenge
- New technologies allow firms and governments to crawl all over our private lives. They also empower us to fight back
2010.09.22
Facebook monkeying again with user trust model
TechCrunch has an article on the one more underhanded switch that Facebook did to the user trust model: “Facebook Has Quietly Implemented A De-Facto Follow Feature” by MG Siegler (2010.09.20) – http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/20/facebook-not-now-follow/. It is as if the Facebook is run an manned by bunch of evil minds trying to find new ways how to screw users’ trust and shatter any remaining semblance/bit of privacy.
Following two paragraphs are capturing the essence of this new change:
- “You see, when someone requests to be your friend on Facebook, this automatically subscribes them to all of your public (“Everyone”) posts in their News Feed. Facebook doesn’t talk about this much, but it’s a very real feature, which we reported on in July of last year. You see these posts until this person rejects you (because obviously if they accept you as a friend, you’ll keep seeing them). So with this new Not Now button, and the removal of the simple rejection mechanism, Facebook has basically created a de-facto follow feature.
With the Not Now button, Facebook took what was a one-step rejection and made it at least two steps — and that’s only if you want to truly block somebody (after you click the Not Now button, they ask “Don’t know XXXX XXXX?” and if you click that, it will block them from making any further friend requests). If you just want to deny a person’s request without blocking them, you have to go to the Requests page — the limbo area that Facebook sends the Not Now people to. This area isn’t particularly easy to find; it’s buried in the Friends -> Find Friends area. In other words, it’s now quite a few steps simply to reject a person’s friend request as you previously could.”
- Facebook Lets You Mark Friend Requests with “Not Now,” then Decide on Them Later (InsideFacebook; 2010.09.17) – http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/09/17/facebook-lets-you-mark-friend-requests-with-not-now-then-decide-on-them-later/
2010.05.23
I want you to scan for Facebook privacy
- Securing your Facebook privacy settings – http://www.macworld.com/article/151437/2010/05/reclaimprivacy_facebook.html
- The bookmarklet the performs Facebook privacy settings checks – http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/
2010.05.22
Facebook leaks users IDs to advertisers
“Facebook, MySpace Confront Privacy Loophole” (WSJ.com, 2010.05.21) – http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704513104575256701215465596.html
Facebook, MySpace and several other social-networking sites have been sending data to advertising companies that could be used to find consumers’ names and other personal details, despite promises they don’t share such information without consent.
… Most social networks haven’t bothered to obscure user names or ID numbers from their Web addresses, said Craig Wills, a professor of computer science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, who has studied the issue.
The sites may have been breaching their own privacy policies as well as industry standards, which say sites shouldn’t share and … See Moreadvertisers shouldn’t collect personally identifiable information without users’ permission. Those policies have been put forward by advertising and Internet companies in arguments against the need for government regulation. …
… For most social-networking sites, the data identified the profile being viewed but not necessarily the person who clicked on the ad or link. But Facebook went further than other sites, in some cases signaling which user name or ID was clicking on the ad as well as the user name or ID of the page being viewed. By seeing what ads a user clicked on, an advertiser could tell something about a user’s interests. …
…”If you are looking at your profile page and you click on an ad, you are telling that advertiser who you are,”…
2010.05.19
Facebook mulls U-turn on privacy
“Facebook mulls U-turn on privacy” (BBC News, 2010.05.19) – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10125260.stm
2010.05.15
Temptest in a teapot
- “Are Facebook users revolting, or are they revolting?” by Justin
(2010.05.15) – http://drinkchatpolicy.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/are-facebook-users-revolting-or-are-they-revolting/
2010.01.14
Facebook Privacy
Content of this article is replaced by the newer one “Facebook privacy? What Facebook privacy?” at https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/facebook-privacy-what-facebook-privacy/.