Facebook Faces Criticism of New Privacy

Posted by Geronimo Boosh on December 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment

The social network Facebook’s users are currently welcomed with a small box: “We’ve simplified our privacy page.” All 350 million users worldwide are encouraged to review their current attitudes to privacy and to update it. Those who disregard this request, runs the risk that their private messages, photos and videos on the Internet are available.

From now on, when Facebook members have two options. Either can have private messages, photos and videos to be readable on the Internet. Or will they be shown only to confirmed friends on Facebook. But the current changes encountered criticism from privacy: Facebook has preset the first option. Those who have thus confirmed what the engineers selected to be that his own private content is available via search engines like Google or Bing. The on-line civil rights organization “Fund” shall exercise particular criticism of the practice, that users lose completely on information such as the profile picture, name and city control.

Also problematic: Who has provided information on his political and religious setting, or upload photos and videos are automatically price the friends of his friends – complete strangers.

Why is Facebook so easily deal with the privacy of its users, although data protection officials have been struggling for months to the contrary, is obvious: The more the users of publicly accessible on the Internet, the more frequent the name appears in search engines. A good advertising effect.