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Harold Mansfield
04-09-2018, 12:05 PM
Many of us use Facebook for both business and personal reasons and I'm sure many are as upset as I am over the lack of care they've exhibited over who can and cannot access our info, and how easy it was to exploit that.

A few days ago Zuck announced new policies for advertisers, but for us there's finally a way to delete your data, and they're redesigning the settings to make things easier to find. It was clear for a long time that the settings were not user friendly on purpose to make things hard to find. It appears that game is over.

Still not feeling all warm and fuzzy about Facebook, but at least they're doing something and are doing it quickly.
More here.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/28/facebook-privacy-tools-put-people-control-data

Paul
04-10-2018, 02:46 AM
I heard somewhere there will be an option to pay for Facebook and keep info private. That makes sense to me if it's true.

I'm not a fan of monopolistic big/brother type social media/internet businesses, however, I am less of a fan of government showboating by intruding in the same. I see they are going to (or are) make Zuckerberg testify. Why are they showboating. Congress people don't know what the heck they're talking about when it comes to that subject. They're as dumb as I am on that subject. Why not just get some some gov't computer experts to meet with zuck and his team in private to sort it out. They can also talk in private about any national security or "censorship" issues that are relevant.

They don't need to make a show of it. Just a bunch of blowhards and showboats taking advantage of a situation to get their faces on camera making believe they are protecting the "people".

I can't believe I'm defending Facebook but "grilling" the guy makes no sense to me. It sets a potentially dangerous precedent for gov't intruding in the free market.

Fulcrum
04-10-2018, 07:23 AM
I heard somewhere there will be an option to pay for Facebook and keep info private. That makes sense to me if it's true.

But shouldn't user privacy be be a given rather than a paid addon?

Harold Mansfield
04-10-2018, 10:41 AM
I heard somewhere there will be an option to pay for Facebook and keep info private. That makes sense to me if it's true.
That's been going around for a while. It isn't true.


I'm not a fan of monopolistic big/brother type social media/internet businesses, however, I am less of a fan of government showboating by intruding in the same. I see they are going to (or are) make Zuckerberg testify. Why are they showboating. Congress people don't know what the heck they're talking about when it comes to that subject. They're as dumb as I am on that subject. Why not just get some some gov't computer experts to meet with zuck and his team in private to sort it out. They can also talk in private about any national security or "censorship" issues that are relevant.

Well, just my opinion but, after Equifax and Yahoo it should have been clear that there needs to be some standards for how personal information is stored and how it's allowed to be used.. Facebook was just the icing on the cake, but there were literally hundreds (more like thousands) of others over the past few years, big and small, that resulted in customers, and employees information being stolen.

Financial fraud and identity theft is rampant. Each breech sets off a cascade of events for many users that seeps into their businesses, families, contacts and on and on.

It's open season and something needs to be done. There needs to be some standards.


They don't need to make a show of it. Just a bunch of blowhards and showboats taking advantage of a situation to get their faces on camera making believe they are protecting the "people". The public wants to see it and this may help congress to understand. The public also needs to get up to speed very quickly. I agree they are clueless. Very few are tech savvy, and the "Tech Council" that we had of the brightest and best that was supposed to help out with these issues, quit.


I can't believe I'm defending Facebook but "grilling" the guy makes no sense to me. It sets a potentially dangerous precedent for gov't intruding in the free market.

He is in a tough spot. Facebook just got fined in Brazil for NOT sharing information with the Government, and now they're in trouble in the U.S. for sharing too much information.
It's going to be a rough year.

Paul
04-10-2018, 02:49 PM
Hacking is a technical issue, not something congress can fix. On privacy issues there is an easy answer. Big fat upfront disclaimer when somebody signs up for Facebook or any other online service that shares info. Like lemmings everybody just feeds their info into the system with no clue about what they are doing. I realize there is probably some small print disclaimer but just like in "truth in lending" it should be upfront, not hidden. That may be what the gov't can insist on. No need for a big show, just do it. They'll probably create some committee or study or something that never really solves the basic issue.

But I revert to "Caveat emptor" as the true solution. Be aware of what you are sacrificing when you voluntarily give info and use a "free" service.

Harold Mansfield
04-10-2018, 04:12 PM
Hacking is a technical issue, not something congress can fix.

True, but Cambridge Analytica didn't hack Facebook. They got the data from someone who never should have been given it in the first place and then used what they had to get more using the tools that Facebook makes available to all advertisers. There was also some fraud and misrepresentation in there as well. That's where standards for what you can do with data could have come into place.

No, there is no law that will prevent hacking. Also no magic button. However, as with health records there are standards to the level of security and precautions that you must take to secure that info and keep it private.

Just like with cars. No, you can't legislate human behavior and pass a law that makes everyone drive safely, but requiring seat belts at least means if you are hit you're not guaranteed to be seriously injured. At the very least we could have some standards so that so many companies aren't such easy targets.

Right now there are no standards. No general consensus. It's open season. Big companies are taking security upon themselves, but there are no actual requirements. No laws against weak data security, or no data security at all. And since everyone from Big-O tires to Subway to the local coffee joint has your name, age, address, email, and CC#, there should be standards on how it's kept and what you are allowed to do with it.

Harold Mansfield
04-10-2018, 04:27 PM
I stand corrected on a paid version of Facebook. Watching the congressional testimony and he said this...
https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/10/17220534/paid-facebook-ad-free-version-mark-zuckerberg-testimony

Paul
04-11-2018, 12:45 PM
Personally, I like the pay option with privacy assured. You can't expect a "free service" without some strings attached. I am very concerned about privacy but I just am not bothered, as much as many, about the privacy breech by Facebook. I expected it, and that is why I don't use it. I probably will use the paid version if I am assured of privacy.

I had some time ago signed up with facebook and twitter and linkedin. Every body told me it was necessary for a business to be connected. Immediately I got all these "connections" and so called "followers" that they obviously scanned from my email contacts. I have many email contacts from over the years, many from projects long gone. I received friend requests from people I had long forgotten and even people I never knew. I had no interest in any of that and actually didn't even want some to know of my other contacts. That's when I realized the extremely intrusive capability of those services. I deleted all within days and haven't used any since. I realize there are "opt out" and so called privacy options but I couldn't be bothered learning all that. Just wasn't important enough.

With that said I might very well use the paid versions if they eliminate all that "connection" junk.

Harold Mansfield
04-11-2018, 03:12 PM
If it does happen, still be cautious and use common sense. No one, nothing online can promise you absolute security.

For most of us, our business is pubic. Hopefully you have separation between your online business persona and your personal accounts, emails and phone number.
So honestly, anything hacked that steals business info is info that I already make public and can probably be found on my websites anyway.