So much for facebook privacy

[melmichigan]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38463013/ns/technology_and_science-security

[Aunty Social]

This is really just the high tech version of going through someone's garbage and compiling a list of contacts from their discarded correspondence. You just don't get smelly hands this way.:lol:

 

Nothing online (or in most of life) is completely private. You can make it a little harder to find, but someone with the right skills can eventually get to it. They can even find deleted information sometimes.

 

I set my privacy settings as tight as they will go....but I have no illusions. If someone wants to find me, they can. Heck, I've found people by tracing backwards before facebook or other sites like it were common. And I am not computer savvy.

[SproutMamaK]

There are SO many warning out there about privacy setting. SO many - it seems like every day someone is posting something about increasing your privacy settings. All this is saying is, "Hey, guess what? We took the information you left public and made it, uh, public!" I don't see any problem - people chose to keep the info public, so why would anyone be upset that others have access to it?

 

The only issue I have is that people who tried to make their name unsearchable could now be found simply because their friends had different privacy settings. However, that just means that someone could see their name, not that they could do anything with it (no friend requests, spam, etc). Still not what was requested by the user, though.

[asta]

I found out that one's public presence can be erased from the web for a mere $30K. Even those pesky intellius sites and "public record" sites. (eg: any mention of a person's real name, like having given one's real name to a site to register, had an account with the phone company, etc.)

 

I swear, if I HAD 30K, I'd do it.

 

 

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[Brilliant]

I found out the weakness in the privacy settings a couple of months ago by doing an internet search on my name. I have my privacy settings pretty much maximized. But I found a FB post I'd made on a business's page. My post included a link to a photo my dd had taken of one of their products on her photo blog. The problem being that now everyone with Google now could link my daughter's blog to my first and last name, thus providing information about her that we didn't want out there. Of course I deleted my post, and now I don't post on any fan pages.

[Mommyof4ks]

Yes, I don't have any private info on there other than my name. There are too many crazies around.

[BritAnnia]

So much for any kind of privacy in the age of the internet. Have you seen this site? http://www.spokeo.com/

[Hannah C.]

Honestly, anyone with a Facebook who knows my real name can find me and find a picture that is actually me. They can also see my network. But this information means nothing to anyone who doesn't know me, and it's highly unlikely anyone could do anything with it.

 

What worries me about this is default privacy settings combined with the newest Facebook users - especially if they are teenagers. The "recommended" FB privacy settings have people's status, photos, posts, bio, family, and relationships visible to *EVERYONE*. Those are exactly the things I *don't* want strangers seeing. In fact, my family relationships are hidden from most of my FB friends!

[mommaduck]

One reason that I got a FB profile under a false name. Then my hubby goes and signs up under his real name and links as married to me. I still keep it under the false name, but I'm linked to my siblings now also. I figure, if someone wants to find you, online or not, they will find you. In fact, I keep track of certain estranged family members via the internet and I can bet you they do the same with us. Actually, I don't mind too much, because I do hope for everything to come out in the wash one day.

[Melissa in CA]

So much for any kind of privacy in the age of the internet. Have you seen this site? http://www.spokeo.com/

 

There was a way to delete your information on Spokeo. I did it for my name, but my dh's is on there and I don't remember how one gets it removed....anyone know??

[Quad Shot Academy]

There was a way to delete your information on Spokeo. I did it for my name, but my dh's is on there and I don't remember how one gets it removed....anyone know??

 

Did you go back and make sure that your info was removed? There has been some discussion that Spokeo is actually collecting email addresses. Last I heard no-one that requested that their info be removed actually had it removed.

[BritAnnia]

I didn't know about having the info removed. I only knew about the site because my dh showed it to me. His info is totally screwy. No wonder we get weird promotional junk mail. Currently his info lists him under his mother's name (female version of his name but clearly a female name), and wrong ethnicity.

Oh, and Dh's brother's house 1/4 mile away also comes up under MiL's name. She's a strong marketing draw apparently!

[jewellsmommy]

So much for any kind of privacy in the age of the internet. Have you seen this site? http://www.spokeo.com/

 

I don't have a facebook but dh does. I had never heard of spokeo but just checked it. It had a strange mix of correct and incorrect info on me. It could not find dh at all! Odd. :001_huh:

[LaissezFaire]

I keep everything set to private anyway but I also never consider it to be actually private.

 

It's so easy to find info about people on the internet now, facebook isn't really doing anything new.

[DarlaS]

All this is saying is, "Hey, guess what? We took the information you left public and made it, uh, public!"

 

:iagree:

 

Read user agreements when you sign up for something. It's not like they keep it a secret. How can people get so mad about their information not being private when they didn't bother to try keeping it that way?

[DarlaS]

I figure, if someone wants to find you, online or not, they will find you.

 

:iagree:

 

There's always that pesky phone book. :tongue_smilie:

[mommaduck]

:iagree:

 

There's always that pesky phone book. :tongue_smilie:

We're unlisted...but there are other ways. My dad moved out on my stepmama and moved in with his girlfriend. They moved, no address or phone number. Yep, found his current address online from when he paid his vehicle tax (there are legal reasons we are keeping tabs on him). Found out another relative got married from the profile pic he posted on FB (though not friends with him, we can see his picture...found out where he moved to by his wife's Current Location changing). Honestly, I've found lost siblings of my own and of a friends from social networking sites. I do genealogical research also...in cases of divorce, adoption, and family strife, people have to start somewhere. When I found a connecting family tree on Ancestry and was not able to contact the owner of the tree (have to have a paid membership) I simply looked her up on Facebook. She had used her full name in both places so it made sense. She's a cousin and we love to leave each other messages now.

Edited July 29, 2010 by mommaduck

[Mom-ninja.]

It seems silly to use the words facebook and privacy in the same sentence.

[Melissa in CA]

Did you go back and make sure that your info was removed? There has been some discussion that Spokeo is actually collecting email addresses. Last I heard no-one that requested that their info be removed actually had it removed.

 

Yes, my info was removed, but I can't get them to remove my dh's. :confused:

[MeanestMomInMidwest]

who is it that we're all so afraid will find us on the internet?

[mommaduck]

who is it that we're all so afraid will find us on the internet?

There are some people that have people in their past that are toxic, trouble making, or even dangerous. People that are going through certain legal issues also will remove or limit their internet presence for a time to protect their interests and to keep from creating further legal issues for themselves. I've been stalked on the internet before and contacted when we had specifically told the person to never contact any of us again.

[Quad Shot Academy]

Yes, my info was removed, but I can't get them to remove my dh's. :confused:

 

That is strange!

[MeanestMomInMidwest]

There are some people that have people in their past that are toxic, trouble making, or even dangerous. People that are going through certain legal issues also will remove or limit their internet presence for a time to protect their interests and to keep from creating further legal issues for themselves. I've been stalked on the internet before and contacted when we had specifically told the person to never contact any of us again.

oh, that makes sense. gotcha.

[Excelsior! Academy]

So much for any kind of privacy in the age of the internet. Have you seen this site? http://www.spokeo.com/

 

:ohmy:

 

All of our information is not accurate, but wow!

[annandatje]

Your information will never be permanently removed from sites like spokeo, intellius, radaris, and so on. Why? Because they periodically update their public records searches and because you would have to individually request that the multitude of people search sites remove your information.

 

If one truly desired no trace of themselves on the internet, they would have to use an alias to conduct all business involving public records: purchase real estate, get married/divorced, get professional license, litigate, and these are just a few examples.

 

A glance at the headers on your emails will roughly reveal your location.

If you serve on a board of directors for a not for profit, a trade group, or other association, you will get hits when searching your name.