So apparently some intern law students have filed a complaint against Facebook for having the audacity to allow people to share their personal information with others.
Facebook certainly has privacy issues, as I’ve previously explored, and there’s no doubt that they’re trying to exploit this information for all it’s worth.
But the fact remains that, as Facebook points out, all this information is shared voluntarily. If you don’t want people to know your religion, don’t publicize it online.
The Facebook problem is a problem of user education, not Big Evil Corporations. People need to learn that as the Internet becomes more efficient at connecting and compiling information, they can’t rely on privacy through obscurity anymore. We must assume that anything we type into our computer and send over the Internet will eventually be plastered on a billboard for our parents, employers and ex-girlfriends to see and mock. And we must be vigilant about keeping our private information private. No matter how fun it might seem to break that rule just once.
What happens when investors realize that Facebook is a big black hole where they throw money and demand that it start returning a profit ? Well, you get things like Beacon. Remember what Beacon first looked like before the massive outcry ?
The Gazette’s story BTW is solely missing in details.
Read this instead: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080530-canadian-group-files-complaint-over-facebook-privacy.html
I don’t have a Facebook account and I don’t plan on getting one either. They scare me.
The Internet is a vast gold mine for libel/defamation lawyers. It’s only a matter of time before the legal profession taps into it big time . . . maybe. Or maybe defamation will become the norm . . . Or maybe a solar disturbance will short-circuit the whole thing forever (but I digress.)
By the way, your blog does not look like “shiat.” On the contrary, it’s well-laid out and well-presented.
Bravo!