I am really liking Facebook, ESP its recent MARVEL Comics widget system, where you can read comic books digitally.

But then I had come to find out a recent situation that happened with Facebook, the fact that some personal information, even though you went out of your way to keep private on facebook, due to Facebook privacy settings in your profile, can be compromised.

I found this out due to a latest article by Times Online

Just click on that link to read the article. Apparently, if you perform some kind of search through the “Advanced Search” area, you’d be able to get a hold of info on people that didn’t want to be exposed to begin with, regardless of their Facebook settings.

Apparently, Facebook DID fix this issue, but they did decide to leave the fact that the responsibility of providing private information to be on the net to begin with would be left to the users.

I do see Facebooks point on this. I don’t think we should cast blame on websites, esp. social networking websites, that info might be compromised. We, the internet user, take a RISK by typing information and saving it to a server somewhere. Except for MAYBE if you’re paying for a specific service to have your information NOT exposed and secure, but even at that, is everything on the net ALL that secure?

Since we do all our online banking online, if our information is is compromised when we’re doing our online bill payments and other such transactions, if our information is compromised, should we blame the banks? Tough call, since….should we blame ourselves for using “Online banking”? My parents don’t do it, they don’t trust it. They’re old-fashioned. But should they be put in the same category as the even OLDER generation that believe in credit cards and just stuff their cash in a mattress?

There’s also issues with other people attempting to “Google” you. Now they can “MySpace” and “Facebook”

Get a LOAD of this! I got a screen shot:

This was a recent feature I’ve been seeing up on MySpace as of late, and it really annoys me. Why on earth would I want to put my full name on MySpace. What is REALLY funny, is the caption below, “Your first and last name are private, and used only for search.”

Thank you for stating the obvious. Isn’t that how you attempt to look someone up, is by their first and last name? Isn’t that how we DON’T want to be found. So I have been just ignoring those fields. Esp. after seeing this Facebook issue.

Want your friends to find you? Yeah, I’ll just hand deliver them my cell phone number face-to-face. Because I know someone other than my friends that might attempt to look me up. Think it’d be wise for Norma “Girls-Gone-Wild” Wilder to put her first and last name on, of all places, MySpace?? And have friends, family, and prospective EMPLOYERS (save that for another blog) to look her up to see questionable photos of her?

I don’t recommend it.

In OTHER news, at The Washington Post (click link for article), apparently, somehow a feature on Facebook called “The Beacon feature”, revealed someone’s online purchase of a Christmas gift for his wife, unfortuantely, it was broadcasted to all the people in his own personal network, old classmates, other friends, AND , of course, the person he bought the gift for…..his WIFE. WOOPS….cat was let out of the bag! Guess who knows what she’s getting from Santa, right?

Apparently, as always, always someone (Facebook) trying to make a buck, squeezing out any advertising opportunity possible. Basically, their method is to let the personal network of said user know what he purchased aware of the site or store he purchased it from.

What better way to get the word out about a business by letting people in your network know what store you shopped at. Of course, it backfired that one time in the year, where you don’t want people to know what you’re buying THEM for their birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas.

At any rate, bottom line, please do NOT rely on the privacy settings of ANY social networking sites. The only SAFE way to keep your private info from “getting out” is to not even put it there in the FIRST place.

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