Lesson 26: Social Sites IIIn this lesson, we'll continue to probe further some of the privacy implications of sharing personal data online, looking , in particular, at recent developments on, and controversies about, Facebook. We'll also discuss the privacy settings Facebook provides. Finally, we'll consider how best to establish and nurture online digital identity.At the end of lesson 25, you were asked to, find out more about the origins and controversies surrounding Facebook. You might start with this Wikipedia page. What aspects of the site appeal to you and why? What concerns do you have? The links above will help you, and here are some others: Hey, Facebook, just let go of me, The Times (2008); Plea to ban employers trawling Facebook, The Times (2008); Identity 'at risk' on Facebook (BBC, 2008; explored further in Facebook Hacked Again: "The hack exposed by the BBC involves an application that, once added by an unsuspecting user, sends the hacker all that person's personal details and those of their friends in a formatted list. The details sent include things like full name, hometown, date of birth, and employer. … It's possible for a malicious Facebook application, like the one used in the news story, to masquerade as a game or a quiz. And unlike protecting yourself from phishing emails, it's not simply good enough for you to "know better" yourself - if even one of your friends installs the app, your details get stolen too. ); People You May Know (Facebook blog, 2008). Points that might come up in discussion include, of course, all the things we enjoy Facebook for (friendship, staying and getting in touch, networking; conversation, communication, instead-of-email, IM, sharing — photos, memories, links; organising events), but should also include consideration of: Terms of Service: have you read these (the current version, revised November 2007, runs to nearly 6500 words)? Excerpts: We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add,
or delete portions of these Terms of Use at any time without further
notice. If we do this, we will post the changes to these Terms of Use
on this page and will indicate at the top of this page the date these
terms were last revised. Your continued use of the Service or the Site
after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms of
Use. If you do not agree to abide by these or any future Terms of Use,
do not use or access (or continue to use or access) the Service or the
Site. It is your responsibility to regularly check the Site to
determine if there have been changes to these Terms of Use and to
review such changes. … You represent, warrant and agree that no materials of any kind
submitted through your account or otherwise posted, transmitted, or
shared by you on or through the Service will violate or infringe upon
the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy,
publicity or other personal or proprietary rights; or contain libelous,
defamatory or otherwise unlawful material. … By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically
grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant,
to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable,
fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use,
copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt
(in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose,
commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the
Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or
incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and
authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User
Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User
Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however
you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your
User Content. … We care about the privacy of our users. Click here
to view the Facebook's Privacy Policy. By using the Site or the
Service, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to
and processed in the United States. Friendships, privacy and permanence: what exactly is a 'friend' and how do friendships change over time?; unknown audiences; permanence of digital data; consequences over time. Have you read Facebook's Privacy Policy? When you visit Facebook you provide us with two types of information:
personal information you knowingly choose to disclose that is collected
by us and Web Site use information collected by us as you interact with
our Web Site. … When you enter Facebook, we collect your browser type and IP address. … Although we allow you to set privacy options that limit access to your
pages, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or
impenetrable. We cannot control the actions of other Users with whom
you may choose to share your pages and information. Therefore, we
cannot and do not guarantee that User Content you post on the Site will
not be viewed by unauthorized persons. … Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources,
such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services, and other users
of the Facebook service through the operation of the service (e.g.,
photo tags) in order to provide you with more useful information and a
more personalized experience. Is Facebook sometimes just about projecting the right image? Is social software sometimes (often?) just narcissistic? The power of groups: is it easy to be yourself online or do you feel pressurised to do what others are doing? Responsibility for what you post and say — who's viewing it … and when? (Do you make use of Friend Lists?) Integrity of online identity and data: are you careful with your personal information? What about your friends' data: do you exercise due care when posting photos of them or talking about them on Facebook? Bullying-via-social-networks: not necessarily different from non-digital bullying, but consider — hiding the ID of the instigator(s); magnification; mirroring. Software-driven networking: People You May Know ("We built this feature with the intention of helping you connect to more of your friends, especially ones you might not have known were on Facebook. … People You May Know looks at, among other things, your current friend list and their friends, your education info and your work info. If you are already friends on Facebook with some people from your last job, for example, you may find some more of your former coworkers (assuming they are visible to you in search) among the "People You May Know' suggestions.") (The Wall has a short sketch about Facebook which begins with a people-you-may-know moment.) Vulnerability to advertising: eg, Facebook users warned about ads (BBC, 2008). Vulnerability to predators: see, eg, Facebook agrees child safety plan (BBC, 2008). Vulnerability to hacking. Identity theft. Taking your data out/portability of data (closed gardens). Closing your account. Prep: look at Privacy options in Facebooks (Google Presentation) — have you checked your own privacy settings and do you understand the choices you're making? Read Facebook: safe use advice: are you following the advice Facebook gives? Now read danah boyd's article, controlling your public appearance. On your blog, write about what you think you've learned from these last two lessons about social software, in general, and Facebook in particular. |