Facebook claims that it’s a mistake that they are working to “dramatically limit” (yeah, sure). But, for some time, they’ve been giving your ID to the companies that make a business of collecting data about you on the Internet, then selling it. Reporters for the Wall Street Journal caught them at it.
Says the Wall Street Journal: “The apps reviewed by the Journal were sending Facebook ID numbers to at least 25 advertising and data firms, several of which build profiles of Internet users by tracking their online activities.”
Everyone needs to be aware of these new companies that are collecting and selling information about you. We also need to be aware of who their partners are. To start: Facebook, Abobe Flash, Google, Yahoo, Twitter, and who knows who else. The only way to defeat them is by scrupulous management of your browser “cookies” and by being aware of how these companies work and how sneaky and dishonest they are. When they have your ID, they can track what you do on the web, tie it all together with your name, and sell it.
I am considering leaving Facebook altogether. But for some time I have signed into Facebook using a separate browser, and in that browser I don’t go anywhere but to Facebook. This may be the last straw, though, that leads me to close my Facebook account.
4 Comments
As an ex-facebook user (well, my ‘real’ account is closed, I maintain an account under this alias for the facebook applications I develop), I am constantly amused by some among us who believe facebook run their site for some kind of ‘common good’.
As a facebook application developer it is shocking how much information is provided to applications is soon as you authorize them, and though developers are theoretically restricted in what they can do with this information, in practice you *could* do anything you want with it (and as show above many do!).
With the interlinking of accounts (i.e. import your friends from your email, Google or AOL), even using seperate browser sessions cannot assure that your information is secure.
Unfortunately, many people will not care about their privacy until they have had a demonstration of their life with it lost; but it is much harder to fight back from there.
Hi Kia… Thank you again for your comments. You have way more knowledge of how Facebook works than I do.
By the way, I sent you an email this morning. It appears that you were writing a comment here on the blog while I was writing an email to you…
Thanks, Email received. Strange how these cooincidences happen.
I have been a web developer for a while now, and worked on a few facebook applications, but obviously I can only guess at how the site itself works, based on my observations and the data that is provided to me, as a developer, but I have to agree with your lack of trust in them.
Maybe I am an idealist, but I would like to believe that Facebook is only trying to make it easier for people to stay connected and organize for political & social causes. They may coordinate with the government or law enforcement agencies when there is a legally sanctioned reason to do so. But that is the case with all media outlets including cable companies, apple/iTunes, cell-phone service providers, Internet providers, etc. After the legislation that passed both houses of Congress during the evil Bush years, everyone is circumspect. No one can be entirely trusted anymore; at least not when it comes to electronic and other forms of communication. I just hope we can get rid of the horrible legislation and court cases that have reduced individual liberty and freedom in the name of security/safety.
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