Boo to Facebook!

[bookslover]

Well, I finally got fed up with all the privacy concerns and quit Facebook today. The thing is: when I quit, a box came up that said that if I decide to come back, all I have to do is type in my email address and my password like normal, and I'd be back. Sounds like even though you quit, they keep you current somehow, so you aren't really quitting.

Facebook is like the Hotel California: "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave..."

 

[Skyler]

Good for you. I'm not that concerned about it yet.

 

[CatherineL]

My husband deleted his account a year or so ago, and I think its really gone now. They do keep it at least for a few months.

 

[EverReforming]

There is supposedly a way to actually delete your account, deeply hidden within the menus of Facebook. Here's the wikihow on the supposed method, though I've not actually tested it:

Wikihow - Permanently Delete a Facebook Account

 

[E Nomine]

I've avoided Facebook because I'm completely averse to putting my personal information out on the public grid of the Internets (even my PB signature is minimal). So much content is exclusive to FB members, however, that I want to create a pseudononymous account devoid of personally identifiable info. I'm struggling with the concern that this would be a significant 9th commandment violation.

 

[Notthemama1984]

SW,

What my conscience is comfortable with is creating a name that represents you, but is not your real name. For example, my name on FB could be (it is not though) Chaplainintraining. I do not feel that I am being dishonest. I am a chaplain in training, I could simply choose to be known by this vs. the name on my birth certificate.

 

[Scottish Lass]

I have less info on FB than is in the phone book and I use my real name, city, etc.

 

[he beholds]

if i were going to delete my account, i'd probably do a wipe first, just because they do keep the account alive somewhere. i'd go back in, erase every picture, change my name, birthdate, etc, and erase all of my groups or likes, etc. then delete it.

i use a nickname, but i'd use a completely bogus name and not be sinning. fb isn't a person that you are lying to--and you using a false name is in no way bearing false witness against your neighbor--unless, of course, you are using his name and likeness...

 

[Phil D.]

Also, those who might not want to use their real name, but whose conscience would be bothered by doing such, could make a notation that they are in fact using a pseudonym.

 

[Scottish Lass]

i use a nickname, but i'd use a completely bogus name and not be sinning. fb isn't a person that you are lying to--and you using a false name is in no way bearing false witness against your neighbor--unless, of course, you are using his name and likeness...

You are, however, violating their terms of service, so it may be sinning.
# Registration and Account Security

Facebook users provide their real names and information, and we need your help to keep it that way. Here are some commitments you make to us relating to registering and maintaining the security of your account:

1. You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.
2. You will not create more than one personal profile.
3. If we disable your account, you will not create another one without our permission.
4. You will not use your personal profile for your own commercial gain (such as selling your status update to an advertiser).
5. You will not use Facebook if you are under 13.
6. You will not use Facebook if you are a convicted sex offender.
7. You will keep your contact information accurate and up-to-date.
8. You will not share your password, (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.
9. You will not transfer your account (including any page or application you administer) to anyone without first getting our written permission.
10. If you select a username for your account we reserve the right to remove or reclaim it if we believe appropriate (such as when a trademark owner complains about a username that does not closely relate to a user's actual name).

 

[Phil D.]

Ahhh.... In light of Anna's good information, scratch my previous suggestion.

 

[JBaldwin]

I, too, am disgusted with FB. When I opened an account, I gave out minimal information, and yet they have managed to collect information from my unwitting friends who offer them information. Not long ago, I opened my account to discover that I have been "tagged" in a number of photos. I expressly did not put my picture on FB, for the sake of privacy. I had to go in and "untag" everything.

Another time I went in to discover that they had managed to collect the names of the schools I attended and wanted to know if I was interested in linking up with all of my old friends.

Without my permission and without even signing on to FB, I was added to a mom's group and a homeschool group. I had to delete my names from those groups.

And these problems have come even though I rarely go on to FB, and I have put myself on the highest privacy status available.

GRRRRRR

 

[Scottish Lass]

Not long ago, I opened my account to discover that I have been "tagged" in a number of photos. I expressly did not put my picture on FB, for the sake of privacy. I had to go in and "untag" everything.

Without my permission and without even signing on to FB, I was added to a mom's group and a homeschool group. I had to delete my names from those groups.

But FB didn't do that; your friends did. FB may have given them the tools to do it, but you need to make it clear to your friends not to tag or invite you. It would never cross my mind *not* to tag someone I knew in a photo unless she had asked me not to. Make sure you enable email notifications of any actions like that so you know as soon as it happens.

 

[he beholds]

i use a nickname, but i'd use a completely bogus name and not be sinning. fb isn't a person that you are lying to--and you using a false name is in no way bearing false witness against your neighbor--unless, of course, you are using his name and likeness...

You are, however, violating their terms of service, so it may be sinning.
# Registration and Account Security

Facebook users provide their real names and information, and we need your help to keep it that way. Here are some commitments you make to us relating to registering and maintaining the security of your account:

1. You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.
2. You will not create more than one personal profile.
3. If we disable your account, you will not create another one without our permission.
4. You will not use your personal profile for your own commercial gain (such as selling your status update to an advertiser).
5. You will not use Facebook if you are under 13.
6. You will not use Facebook if you are a convicted sex offender.
7. You will keep your contact information accurate and up-to-date.
8. You will not share your password, (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.
9. You will not transfer your account (including any page or application you administer) to anyone without first getting our written permission.
10. If you select a username for your account we reserve the right to remove or reclaim it if we believe appropriate (such as when a trademark owner complains about a username that does not closely relate to a user's actual name).

hmmm. being that i use a nickname, which is a real name, i'm in the clear anyway. but i still think it's OK to use a bogus name to protect yourself. i don't think obeying facebook is a moral duty. sure, they could use their powers to shut someone down, that's their prerogative and right as being owners of site as that's the consequence for not obeying them. but i don't feel compelled to obey them. they are a service that i use--i'm not supposed to be one that they use.

 

[Andres]

with all due respect, could someone please explain to me the danger of having your real name on FB? I have my profile completely private except to friends. I do it just because I want to keep a low-profile. It's more for humility's sake than for worry about who sees my info sake.

 

[E Nomine]

You're probably OK if you keep your profile private. Most people don't. Some of the risks are: identity theft (the more information a criminal has about you, the easier it is to steal your identity), burglary (e.g., your profile indicates you live in Chicago and you post an update indicating you're vacationing in Hawaii), employment and education decisions (many schools and employers are doing cursory internet checks on applicants and ruling them out on arbitrary grounds, e.g. "this girl really likes to party, she's obviously irresponsible and unreliable" or "this man looks like one of those insane Christian reconstructionists, he'll probably disrupt the workplace with homophobic prostheletizing").

There are a lot of unbalanced people out there and the Internet facilitates their taking offense and engaging in stalking. I found out the hard way--before the WWW--when I was on a local dial-up BBS (remember those?) and there was a really angry and disruptive character who always logged on. I thought it was just funny and didn't shy away from calling him out on-line for being a jerk. It turned out he was a sociopath with a violent police record who became obsessed with me.

 

[discipulo]

I tought there was a law that Internet Companies had to destroy your data after a certain period of time, even their back ups and so on.

Frightening stuff, to imagine our data permanently out there for who ever comes along to use. George Orwell you had no idea...

 

[E Nomine]

Anyone unfamiliar with services such as Spokeo http://www.spokeo.com/, should type his name in to see how much info is easily available. Much of the demographic info is mined from social media sites, e.g. Facebook.

Most of the data mine sites offer a very detailed report on anyone to anyone for about $10.00.

 

[Andres]

Starting tomorrow, Facebook will implement a new privacy feature that will send all of your deepest secrets to a Government Database wherein Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, George Bush, Glenn Beck, and Army Chaplain Ben Duncan will analyze said secrets only to publish them in their own personal news feeds. Then they will have all have a beer together and laugh about their puppet control over us all!

Will Glenn Beck also partake in said beer? I ask because I was under the impression Mormons were teetotalers.

---------- Post added at 12:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 PM ----------

Anyone unfamiliar with services such as Spokeo People Search | White Pages | Find People, should type his name in to see how much info is easily available. Much of the demographic info is mined from social media sites, e.g. Facebook.

I actually use the site for work purposes and on several occasions it has come in very helpful. I work in law enforcement and there are times I need to track down a phone number for someone. The Texas Highway Patrol covers a pretty vast area and we deal with subjects from various parts of not only the state, but also the country. I say that because I can't just look in a local phonebook to find the info I need so I go to Spokeo (it's saved in my work favorites) and bada-bing, I can usually find what I am looking for. I would say I find what I need about 60% of the time.

 

[Notthemama1984]

I do not know about Mormons in general, but Beck would not drink. He is a former alcoholic and avoids the stuff in order to prevent further bondage.

 

[he beholds]

with all due respect, could someone please explain to me the danger of having your real name on FB? I have my profile completely private except to friends. I do it just because I want to keep a low-profile. It's more for humility's sake than for worry about who sees my info sake.

i'm mostly afraid about kidnappers, because i have adorable children. (wait, is this not in the coffee shop? i'm just kidding, kidnappers of the PBworld--my kids are gross and highly trained martial artists.) but my husband is also a teacher and i don't want his students finding me or us! my profile is set on private, but i do have some friends on fb from here whom i don't really know and i am friends with some family members/highschool friends who have/had drug problems, etc, and i also don't want them finding me. i debated between having one very lowkey profile that accepted everyone or having a moderately personal one (pictures and such) that keeps my info private or a completely family-only with everything on it. i went with moderate.

 

[AThornquist]

I use Facebook so that I can stalk people.

 

[au5t1n]

I've got at least a hundred or so total strangers on my Facebook.

 

[Notthemama1984]

I have numerous strangers on FB. I receive friend requests from people and if FB says we have 20+ mutual friends I accept them.

 

[Skyler]

I use Facebook so that I can stalk people.

You have just been unfriended.

 

[Scottish Lass]

but i still think it's OK to use a bogus name to protect yourself. i don't think obeying facebook is a moral duty.

So entering into a contract/terms of service doesn't bind you to follow it? A person isn't compelled to be on FB, and it's not as though the rules are onerous.

 

[AThornquist]

I use Facebook so that I can stalk people.

You have just been unfriended.

As you please. I already have your available information and several pictures in a folder on an external hard drive.

 

[he beholds]

but i still think it's OK to use a bogus name to protect yourself. i don't think obeying facebook is a moral duty.

So entering into a contract/terms of service doesn't bind you to follow it? A person isn't compelled to be on FB, and it's not as though the rules are onerous.

i hear what you are saying and you are probably right, but i guess i think of it like speeding. if you do it, don't complain when you get caught and suffer the appropriate consequences. i think in a court of law, the most that could happen to someone for disobeying fb would be to get kicked off. i'd be OK with that happening and i think when you agree to terms of service you are acknowledging that you know the consequences of not keeping their rules.
8. You will not share your password, (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.
do you not share your password with tim? i'd rather share my pw with my husband and risk being terminated than keep that from him. and, we actually access e/o's accounts freely. i think, again, that we are agreeing to losing rights of service when we disobey, but we aren't sinning. but i could be way wrong; i hope not, because i don't want to quit fb.

 

[bookslover]

they are a service that i use--i'm not supposed to be one that they use.

Exactly. I find it amazing that the suits who run Facebook are so contemptuous of their own customers.

 

[bookslover]

. . . are so contempuous of their own customers.

You pay for Facebook?

No, but just because it's free doesn't mean that its users aren't customers, in the sense that they are partaking of the services provided. If no one partook of Facebook's services, it would be out of business. Besides, just because it's free doesn't give the site's owners the right to use one's personal information any way they wish - especially in defiance of its customers' publicly-expressed wishes.