Reputation Management, Internet Privacy, and Social Media Quick Hits
In today’s Quick Hits we continue to talk about the fallout from Facebook’s f8 announcements, citing such noteworthy tech pundits as MSNBC’s Helen A.S. Popkin.
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Understanding the Evil Behind Facebook’s Complex Opt-Out Procedures
In her Technotica column for MSNBC, Helen A.S. Popkin talks about Facebook’s “Evil Interface” and how the company has made it so difficult to opt-out of its various new features that even privacy experts are having a hard time figuring out what to do. As Facebook marches forward in its quest to become King of the Internet, the company is leaving users in the wind and, thus far, it looks like Mark Zuckerberg and crew are getting away with it.
ReadWriteWeb Details New Apps for Fighting Back Against Facebook
While Facebook has taken drastic steps to force users into giving up their privacy, several new applications have popped up to help users regain control over their Facebook accounts. ReadWriteWeb details two of these apps.
The first is “The Green Safe App,” which allows users to store their Facebook information off-site so that it can only be accessed by Facebook friends. This app allows you to maintain your information without subjecting yourself to Facebook’s information-sharing policies. The second app is called “Give Me My Data” and involves replacing the information that you may have purged from your account when you opted not to participate in Facebook’s “Connected Profiles” feature.
10 Reasons to Delete Your Facebook Account
Assuming that modifying your Facebook profile isn’t enough for you, Dan Yoder gives 10 reasons to delete your Facebook account outright. From #10 (Facebook’s Terms Of Service are completely one-sided) to #1 (The Facebook application itself sucks), Yoder presents some compelling arguments for shutting Facebook down for good.
How Wired Found the Guy Who Sold Gizmodo a Prototype iPhone 4G
In a departure from Facebook news, this fascinating (and creepy) post from Wired writer Brian Chen explains how the Wired staff tracked down Brian Hogan, the now infamous individual who found an Apple iPhone 4G prototype in a bar and sold it to tech website Gizmodo for ,000. Essentially, what Chen and the Wired team did to find Hogan was trace his digital identity online. From Google searches for his name to educated guesses about the college he attended, Wired was able to find Hogan’s home address, his friends on Facebook, and more.
Within a few short days, Hogan’s lawyer reached out to Wired offering a statement since they were “shaking too many branches.” While this story represents some excellent investigative journalism on the part of Wired, it is an unnerving demonstration of how much of our data is on the web and how easily a persistent snooper can dig it up.
