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Farewell to Facebook, at least for now
My friends think I'm crazy ... overreacting. I've gone and done it, though.
I've deactivated my Facebook account.
My privacy settings were set to be as restrictive as Facebook allows, and I still didn't feel comfortable with it. Not because I have anything to hide, but because I don't trust Facebook to not use my information (and that of my friends) for evil, or even to adequately protect it.
What's the big deal? Like me, you might be thinking, "I have nothing to hide. Who cares if Facebook collects personal information and sells it?" That's a fair statement; pretty much every large company we do business with today does that. The problem here is that Facebook tells us that we can trust it, but then it repeatedly changes the rules on us to suit its own needs. Facebook is within its legal rights to do this, but that doesn't make it right.
I have a friend whose identity was stolen a few weeks ago via a Facebook exploit, and he's in a living hell now. Facebook's new Instant Personalization pilot is so controversial that it's being debated on the floor of the US Senate, and the latest change -- switching your interests to keyword links that you have to individually opt out of -- is a completely transparent user-hostile move. A few months ago, Facebook changed the privacy defaults to be completely public (in other words, not at all private) and pitched it as an improvement to their privacy controls. In fact, those privacy controls are so convoluted (and it's hard to imagine that it isn't intentional) that even when you think you've got it locked down, there's a good chance that your friends don't, and they could be sharing information about you.
Google's mission statement is to "organize the world's information," and their motto is, "Don't be evil." What's Facebook's mission? Where do they stand on being evil?
Actually, we know Facebook's mission statement: "Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected." Of course, back in 2008, it was: "Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life." It's certainly not "to be the best place in the world to connect and share with friends and family," even though that's what Elliot Schrage, vice president for public policy at Facebook, claimed it is in a recent New York Times article.
Though Mr. Schrage points people to view his Facebook profile and compare it with Mark Zuckerberg's, at the time writing his profile comes up as a missing page. What happened, Elliot, share a little too much information, maybe? If you need to get a better understanding of your privacy policies, check out this info graphic in the New York Times that shows the more than 170 possible options you can set.
Given the changes Facebook has made over the past couple of years, what new surprises do the folks there have in store for us? Clearly Facebook feels the power of having such a dominant online community. As they say, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
So, yeah, I'm taking a break from Facebook for a while. First, I want to see if it's possible to live without the big FB. Then I'll decide whether it's a good idea to live with it. I already know which way I'm leaning.
Of course, even if I do decide to completely delete my Facebook account, Facebook will keep my personal data and continue to mine it.
I don't expect anyone to follow my lead. I do, however, urge you to think about whether you think Facebook is deserving of our trust. Is Facebook a good steward of our online (and increasingly offline) identities and information?
If Facebook was a person, it would be one who can't keep a secret and talks about you behind your back.
Would you stay friends with a person like that?
Comments
45
Subscribe to commentsIvanMay 13th 2010 1:42PM
I guess the real question is, what's on facebook that needs to be hidden so badly? Its one thing that public domain information is mined and used for Google's own best interest but a complete separate issue when you knowingly put whatever information you do on Facebook. You actually have control over what you share with Facebook, that is not the case with Google.
sodapopMay 13th 2010 7:27PM
I think this whole issue is ridic. Seriously, they only know what you tell them. Its the data YOU input. The friends YOU add. The apps YOU give privileges to.
Not to mention that any data of value is already out there, out of your control due to the banking and credit industries. As well as the US government.
This practically amounts to blaming the Spork company because someone improvised and used one to kill ...
Facebook's main value is the social network. You aren't going to find that quality and reach anywhere else.
AddyMay 14th 2010 2:30AM
@ Ivan and @ sodapop If you give Facebook some data expecting it to be kept private and it changes its privacy policy exposing what was supposed to be hidden, I guess you would have a problem.
Jason ClarkeMay 13th 2010 1:47PM
Hi Ivan,
The issue as I see it is that Facebook built its community on being a place where you can privately communicate with friends and family (as per their old mission statement). It's a classic bait-and-switch, where they now claim that everyone wants everything to be public. That's just not true.
Some people may be just fine with everything they post online being public, but that's not the premise upon which Facebook built their empire.
And if you're curious about Mark Zuckerberg's true feelings about user privacy, check these IMs from when he was first building Facebook, where he basically says "people trust me, dumb f%^ks". Yikes.
http://www.businessinsider.com/well-these-new-zuckerberg-ims-wont-help-facebooks-privacy-problems-2010-5
j.r. ladsonMay 13th 2010 1:53PM
I understand the concerns, but the most interesting tidbit is about your friend who had his identity stolen. Was this because of a loophole in the security or privacy policy? Or did he get tricked into providing info? Was his password security compromised? I just think about how many backwards searches can be done from my info, on my 'info' page, and think that we need to re-evaluate what we put on FB (especially now that location-based social networking is the 'new' thing).
Jason ClarkeMay 13th 2010 3:51PM
He's still not entirely certain how it happened, but it looks like it was a phishing scam from a Facebook app. All of his contacts in Facebook that had email addresses listed as viewable to friends received malware emails from him from his personal email address (also listed in Facebook), and then credit cards were opened in his name among other things.
guelthMay 13th 2010 2:00PM
This is how I have felt about Google for quite some time. It was worse because I was the biggest Google fanboy and time after time they were becoming too powerfult and sketchy.
There should be more people like you. You stop buying/using goods and services from any company that either crosses the line with privacy or flirts too closely too it.
It would take me no time to get rid of FB, but it took me nearly 6 months to rid myself of all things Google. oy!
setMay 13th 2010 2:00PM
My biggest concern is the data from friend lists: I foresee firms scoring people based on their connections/associations similar to credit scores.
RaffsterMay 13th 2010 2:02PM
Jason, can I ask exactly how your friends' identity was stolen and to what extent? This is merely curiosity, as I have no idea how this would be possible with the particular information that I, at least, share with Facebook. I am probably more in line with your thinking, but honestly, like Google experienced with the Buzz fiasco, a few simple and honest tweaks to your ability to personalize privacy settings could go a long way to assuring my comfort with FB. However, the second that FB ceased to be an extension of chat for college students and became a place that parents and business associates far and wide began to join, I quickly became very deliberate with what information I shared and added to the site, so I at least feel that I've made my peace with what FB is to me in its ever evolving form. However if there is a deeper way that FB is being exploited to dig into personal information I may not even be aware that it has access to, I'd like to know.
Jason ClarkeMay 13th 2010 4:08PM
Hi Raffster,
I just mentioned this above in a reply to someone else, but I wanted to make sure you see it.
He's still not entirely certain how it happened, but it looks like it was a phishing scam from a Facebook app. All of his contacts in Facebook that had email addresses listed as viewable to friends received malware emails from him from his personal email address (also listed in Facebook), and then credit cards were opened in his name among other things.
Unfortunately, Facebook applications are given access to all the information your friends can see about you, including who your friends are. And all it takes to become a Facebook app provider is to sign up with an email address; there's no vetting. So anyone with bad intentions can set up a silly Facebook app (like, I don't know, a "Which soft drink are you?" quiz or something) and use it to collect personal information about you and your friends.
In fact, there's a great Facebook app done by the ACLU that will show you exactly what information about you and your friends that apps get access to when you use them:
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=114232425072
216May 13th 2010 2:02PM
"Of course, even if I do decide to completely delete my Facebook account, Facebook will keep my personal data and continue to mine it."
I was going to delete my account a long time ago until I learned this fact. For this reason, I leave my account up, but its extremely restricted. Basically, I leave it active so that I can have control over my own account and what's done with my image online. I've existed on FB in this manner for a few years now.
BrdystylsMay 13th 2010 2:19PM
I deleted my facebook account. Not going back either. I also deleted my Buzz account (privacy issues there too) my myspace account too (not due to privacy but just never used it anymore). I can't believe they can still use my data even after I deleted it. Oh well. It at least doesn't show up on google anymore.
ryanincMay 14th 2010 7:20AM
There WERE privacy issues with Buzz originally, but Google seriously bent over backwards to fix them as quickly as possible. They even posted an apology on their blog. Sure it made headlines, but compare their response to Facebook's. Another reason I trust Google way more than FB.
BrdystylsMay 14th 2010 8:22AM
So true. So true.
Ebr303May 13th 2010 2:20PM
Prudent move. I absolutely understand your concerns. I deleted my account two weeks ago and never looked back. The stakes are to high to roll the dice with people I don't trust.
nitrous9200May 13th 2010 2:23PM
don't just deactivate it, DELETE IT. Even better.
PrestonMay 13th 2010 2:26PM
Are there any alternatives to Facebook? Myspace is pretty much dead, not that it was any better.
csb1227May 13th 2010 3:05PM
Keep an eye on Diaspora.
http://www.joindiaspora.com/
RogueJedi86May 13th 2010 3:30PM
You could just forgo them altogether. I've never made a myspace or facebook, I just used various instant messengers to talk to people. Less privacy issues on instant messengers I would think.
AddyMay 14th 2010 2:36AM
Or you can try Orkut www.orkut.com very popular in some parts of the word.
But then again it's owned by Google, and some aren't comfortable with it.