Facebook Plunges Again
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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 commentsJackMay 13th 2010 11:19PM
I totally agree with you. After I heard about the Facebook Chat issue, that drew the last straw for me. If our data can be accessed by a tiny bug in the system, that's more than enough reason for me to delete it.
I've posted quite a lot of stuff on Facebook, so after the chat incident, I deleted my account. Still waiting my 14 days before it is actually deleted. Although the data and information will never be deleted as there is always copies on the internet such as email etc, at least it makes it harder to access, and no one in the public would be able to read it if something does happen.
Although, I did create another facebook account, just so I don't miss out on the social interactions on Facebook, however, I won't be commenting or posting status updates like I did in my last account. It would be used for reading only, not posting.
DougalMay 13th 2010 11:31PM
I've never really understood the compulsion people have for sharing their 'private' information with the world.
I don't think it's rocket science to understand that sites like FB will want something in return for the services they provide, even though they are seriously pushing the boundaries.
Personally, I wouldn't go anywhere near these 'social' (data mining) networks but If you must join these kinds of institutions, do so with your eyes open.
balvedaMay 14th 2010 6:06AM
You US-people sue almost everything. A woman burned her tongue drinking tea and got a couple of millions. Sue FB then. Scared or what?
m0m0May 14th 2010 5:06AM
I used to not sweat it regarding privacy. not even google managed to worry me. But facebook's eagerness in having me share my details is so overwhelming that it has me worried. Selling my personal information is probably just the tip of the iceberg of what they're going to do.
I thought about deactivating but decided against it, since I still wanted to see what my friends are up to. so what i did was basically remove all details that i have previously filled in, on top of setting the strictest privacy option. All they can get from me is my email, name, birthday and photos. Plus whatever my friends decide to post on facebook that's related to me.
jfjbMay 15th 2010 9:11PM
@ jason clarke
I'm with you, man. I jumped on the FaceBook bandwagon in its early days -- as I did with BBSs, Palo Alto Research, neural systems and SmallTalk V -- anybody?
With FaceBook, I lost interest before I couldn't face the defacing of so-called 'social network' with dumps from wannabe friends who thought 'telling it all' -- or showing it all -- was a safe way out from boredom.
It is a fact of life in many ways, the gold rush is shifting --hear: fades. Five years ago in Florida, for example, people asked for your fax number and raised eyebrows when you mentioned the word email.
I still surf Atlantic waves, they don't change much.
Surf's up, dudes and dudettes