2. Regulation of online content has been a concern
for many years now. Online safety issues have
increased with the emergence of new media
technologies and the rising popularity of social
networking sites.
These online safety issues include:
• identity theft
• exposure to inappropriate content
• inappropriate contact and
• cyberbullying.
3. Did you know?
There are over 4,200 words in Facebook’s Statements
of Rights and Responsibilities and within this there are
approximately 36 links to other policy documents such
as ‘Privacy Policy’ that users are directed to for further
information.
The Privacy Policy document is over 5,000 words,
reading this many words can take a user between 25-30
minutes to read. Imagine if you read every privacy
policy and/or Terms of Use for each online service you
signed up for???
4. In addition to the length, Facebook’s Privacy Policy include the following
key
complexities:
•Multiple categories of content – Each user has a privacy settings page,
which sets out five key categories of personal information
•There are multiple settings for each category – for each category of
content the user can select one of three levels of how their information is
filtered to others online
•It is an opt-out model - if a user does not wish their information to be
available outside of Facebook they must explicitly state this by opting out
This makes it difficult to efficiently ascertain what your signing up
for in a timely manner.
5. Facebook Privacy Erosion
This diagram indicates with the blue shading areas that have gone from default
private to default public on Facebook between 2005 and 2010).
http://mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/
6. What are you really signing up for when you
register your details on an online social network
site such as Facebook?
The link below will take you to a news article where
an Austrian boy requested a log of all the
information Facebook had on him. He received a
CD containing over 1200 pages of data including
details on ‘likes’ to photo he had ‘untagged’ himself
from.
http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-
europe/2011/10/24/facebook-fights-back-on-
privacy-accusations/
7. The Bad
Based and registered in the United States of America
Privacy settings default to be publicly available, which
means your information is available to all unless you
consciously change your settings – making it difficult to
protect your information
Facebook constantly change their privacy setting formats.
For further information read findings from the Complaint
filed by the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest
Clinic (CIPPIC) against Facebook Inc.
https://www.priv.gc.ca/cf-dc/2009/2009_008_0716_e.cfm
8. The Bad cont…
Facebook does not only effect your privacy concerns
but can also effect your career. Read the article below
about employees being sacked as a result of photos
being outed via Facebook.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article7
00350.ece
9. The Good
Facebook has one site www.facebook.com that provides
access to users across the globe. ( facebook Fanatic Book)
Facebook is one of only a few social networking sites that
has become a member of TRUSTe, a non-profit
organization that verifies whether Websites adhere to
their privacy policies. ( facebook Fanatic Book)
Facebook is available in 35 languages across 180 countries
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2011/10/26/397
481_country-books.html
Facebook makes it easy and simple to keep in touch with
friends and family all over the world and to meet new
people
10. Conclusion
In order to protect your information think before you
post online, and ensure you are aware of all the Terms
and Conditions before signing up for an account. This
goes for all online services not just Facebook.
11. Reference
2007. Facebook Fanatic: Explode Your Popularity, Secure Your Privacy and Buzz
Your Band on Facebook. Edition. BottleTreeBooks LLC
Facebook 2004, United States of America, accessed 20 October 2011
<http://www.facebook.com/policy.php>.
Facebook Fights Back on Privacy Accusations - Tech Europe - WSJ. 2011.
Facebook Fights Back on Privacy Accusations - Tech Europe - WSJ. [ONLINE]
Available at: http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/10/24/facebook-fights-
back-on-privacy-accusations/. [Accessed 20 October 2011].
Facebook's New Privacy Changes: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly |
Electronic Frontier Foundation. 2011. Facebook's New Privacy Changes: The
Good, The Bad, and The Ugly | Electronic Frontier Foundation. [ONLINE]
Available at: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/12/facebooks-new-privacy-
changes-good-bad-and-ugly. [Accessed 22 October 2011].
Why Facebook is bad for you | The Sun |News. 2011. Why Facebook is bad for
you | The Sun |News. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article700350.ece. [Accessed 21
October 2011].
