Facebook is too open for public with no confidentiality

Facebook is too open for public with no confidentiality

Introduction

Facebook despite geographic distances is a vastly popular social networking website which is a simple and fun way to stay in touch with family. It claims more than 900 million active members around the globe but this free to users service has certain privacy issues associated with it. According to an AP-CNBC poll, around 59% people said that they had very little or almost no trust that Facebook can keep their information confidential. The survey also found out that 54% people of the total surveyed respondents do not even feel safe at buying goods or services through the world's most amazingly popular social networking website. (www.mashable.com) However, these results are hardly surprising since Facebook 'shady past is full of privacy related issues. Concerns and issues over privacy changes relating new products like instant personalization, Beacon and frictionless sharing always remain in the headlines. And above all, the never ending alterations to Facebook' privacy policy and terms of service insist users to think twice before trusting this social networking website.

Discussion

There is no doubt “Facebook is too open for public with no confidentiality”. With time, Facebook's progress as a social networking site has witnessed criticisms on a number of issues among which its privacy concern always remains the focus. However, majority of Facebook users disclose their personal information like email address, phone number and date of birth to unknown people, increasing their vulnerability to identity theft. In the majority of the cases, it's completely possible to the way in users' likes and dislikes, family photos, employer details, hobbies and all other personal facts. All this information is sufficient enough for a criminal to impersonate a person or guess his password. Not only home users but also businesses and related organizations could be the sufferers of a targeted cyber attack by criminals who are using their employees' information for their benefits. This is the reason why a number of organizations block their employees' access to Facebook at work. (Hogan & Marc, pp 60-66)

On May 31st, 2010, an online event called “Quit Facebook Day” took place. In this event a good percentage of Facebook users affirmed that they would delete their accounts on this website and would quit this social network due to major privacy concerns. Around 2% of Facebook users from United States were expected to delete their accounts, however, only 33,000 users left this website. Some major privacy issues with the World's most popular social networking site are as follows:

Privacy Concern Related to User's Location

People usually keep their location up to date on Facebook, affirming that everyone on their friends list know when they change places but certainly they might not be interested in geotagging. As with geotagging, Facebook can pick up the exact location and broadcast it. Another high up design feature in the Facebook's latest Timeline is the Maps. This feature collects Meta Data from users' location and very clearly displays life events, photos and check-ins on the map. This feature is a major concern for those ...