Become a Fan of SFN

[Sayonara]

Edited August 19, 2008 by Sayonara³

[CDarwin]

Aha! Second fan. So, that's Sayonara in the 'real' world. Interesting.

[Sayonara]

Behold my orange mighty wheat t-shirt of joy.

[CaptainPanic]

I like the SFN, but I absolutely hate facebook. Privacy is totally non-existent with the option for others to add information about you ("how do you know this person" and photo-tagging).

 

In addition there is this Slashdot.org article which I found worrying: "Researchers at software vendor CA have discovered that social networking site Facebook is able to track the buying habits of its users on affiliated third-party sites even when they are logged out of their account or have opted out of its controversial 'Beacon' tracking service. [...]"

[Sayonara]

I suggest that if you don't like or use facebook, then this is not the thread for you.

 

But I will say that the comments about non-existent privacy basically represent an argument from ignorance. You simply aren't using the site correctly. And frankly I'd rather have Facebook track my buying habits than all the other websites which I use but which are not high-profile enough to be targeted by a software company which has a stake in showing how super they are.

[CaptainPanic]

Responding to your comment means I risk hijacking this thread (apologies!

Mods, perhaps we can move my previous post, Sayonara's reply and this post into a new thread somewhere in Computer Science?)...

 

... but I am curious how I should use Facebook then. I have as a boundary condition that some people who know me in reallife know I am on facebook... they are the ones filling in all the details. I haven't filled in any personal details about myself at all... and I don't want anyone to know my buying habits (although Google, my bank, my supermarket and probably my government already know it).

[mooeypoo]

Bah, I was FIRST on facebook! (ahem, fan me fan me!)

 

We so need a facebook application now, btw.. anyone up for the task? we should brainstorm on what to put there to bring us good peeps.

 

BTW, those of you with working blogs (sfn blogs), you can join the blog-network application and promote your blogs: http://apps.new.facebook.com/blognetworks/blogpage.php?blogid=30395

 

Let us know if you did that so we can all fan your blogs, and .. uhm.. in the spirit of cooperation, I would appreciate more fans too

 

~moo

[Uth]

Nice idea!

[Sayonara]

Responding to your comment means I risk hijacking this thread (apologies!

The way I see it is that other people reading this thread might have similar concerns, so it's relevant

 

... but I am curious how I should use Facebook then.

Go to the privacy settings tab and ramp everything up so that people can only see your profile if you are friends.

 

Turn off "public search listing" under the Privacy->Search tab. If you want to be uber-secure, also make sure that non-friends cannot view your friends list (this is a double-edged sword if people you know are trying to find you, because a good way to see if "John Smith" is the one you know is to look at his friends).

 

Go to the Privacy->News Feed tab and scale back what gets publicised when you perform actions on the site.

 

Under Privacy->Applications->Other Applications, there is an area called "What Other Users Can See via the Facebook Platform". Deselect everything other than profile picture and online presence.

 

In your photo album options, set all albums to "friends only" as a minimum. You can take this further by limiting access to individuals you specifically chose.

 

Only install applications you cannot live without. When you do install an application, uncheck the "allow this app to send me emails" box. This prevents savvy app authors from collecting your email address if your mailserver bounces any notices back to them via the Facebook app platform.

 

I routinely block applications which people invite me to, but which I do not wish to install. I suggest doing this because blocking prevents that app from accessing your details. It also means you do not have to reject invites to the same application over and over and over...

 

 

I have as a boundary condition that some people who know me in reallife know I am on facebook... they are the ones filling in all the details. I haven't filled in any personal details about myself at all...

If you remove a tag from a photo etc, it cannot be replaced even by the person who uploaded the photo. Only you.

 

It is a bit annoying that you have to veto tags rather than agreeing to them before they "go live", but it's better than having no control.

 

For things like "how I know this person", you do have to agree to the details which the other person supplies. if you edit them, the other person then has to agree that it is true.

 

I would make the argument that being on Facebook, aware of the way it works, and having some control over what published material is tied to you is leagues better than not being there or having that control.

 

and I don't want anyone to know my buying habits (although Google, my bank, my supermarket and probably my government already know it).

There are limited opportunities for Facebook to gather this info. Quick solution: don't plug your credit card details in, and don't install unnecessary applications.

 

For 3rd party sites which use image beacons on Facebook, I don't see how this is really a problem. They gain nothing by monitoring your facebook activity, and if they monitor your activity OFF facebook then that is not due to the way facebook works.

 

There are various ways of denying image beacons which you will be able to google. Also, a simple and effective measure for crippling unsolicited snooping is by setting your browser to reject 3rd party cookies.

 

To prevent Facebook from tracking your off-site activity, simply ramp up your browser's cookie privacy settings to an appropriately high level.

Edited August 27, 2008 by Sayonara³