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Facebook Privacy: New Data Use Policy Banks on User Laziness

Is there such a thing as Facebook privacy? You’ve might have heard that Facebook is proposing a new Data Use Policy and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (formerly known as a privacy policy). No one refers to it as a Privacy Policy anymore, because there is absolutely no sign of privacy left. And if you read the email from Facebook alerting you to the changes, or even the summary of changes that they provide, you are left with no clear idea of the magnitude of those alterations (you’d have to read the actual suggested changes).

Facebook is masking privacy erosion with a deceptive executive summary. The latest changes make me very uncomfortable in three ways:

1. It appears that Facebook has left open the option to collect and utilize your mobile phone number when you access Facebook from your mobile device. That is valuable information to advertisers who want to text, call or serve up ads to you directly.
2. Facebook is already using, and will continue to use facial recognition software to identify photos that you are in (even if they aren’t your photos), and recommend that they be tagged with your identity. Now they are considering adding your profile photo as a benchmark for the facial recognition software. In other words, the minute any photo is put up with you in it, it can be tagged and exposed to the rest of the world. You can change your Timeline & Tagging Settings to stop non-consensual tagging.
3. By default and unless you make somewhat complicated changes, your photos can be used in advertisements. Any photos you load to Facebook can be served up to your network in connection with items you have “Liked”, which means that your picture (or worse yet, your child’s) can show up next to the raunchy movie you just “Liked”.

As quoted in the British newspaper, The Register, Facebook is practically flaunting your addiction to their social network, knowing you will likely do nothing about it:

“You give us permission to use your name, profile picture, content, and information in connection with commercial, sponsored, or related content (such as a brand you like) served or enhanced by us. This means, for example, that you permit a business or other entity to pay us to display your name and/or profile picture with your content or information, without any compensation to you… You understand that we may not always identify paid services and communications as such.”

Facebook is so confident that you won’t make the necessary changes to your privacy settings (let alone actually deleting your Facebook account), that they can arrogantly announce these changes without fear of reprisal. They are literally banking on your apathy.

There is good news! You have two clear options:

1. You have 7 days to comment on Facebook’s new policies before they take effect. If there is a strong enough backlash against these erosive changes, they will rethink their position (maybe – or they might just outlast you until you’ve stopped paying attention). But the backlash won’t happen without your input.
2. You can outright delete your Facebook account, but don’t do it until you have downloaded a copy of your data, posts, pictures and such. Even then, they reserve the right to use the data you already posted for a certain period of time.

In the coming days, I will post a video on how to do both of these items.

John Sileo is a keynote speaker and CEO of The Sileo Group, a privacy think tank that trains organizations to harness the power of their digital footprint. Sileo’s clients include the Pentagon, Visa, Homeland Security and businesses looking to protect the information that makes them profitable.

 

 

Posted by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo in Online Privacy, Social Media Privacy and tagged Data Use Policy, Facebook, Facebook Announcement, facebook privacy expert, Facial Recognition Software, John Sileo, New Data Use Policy, Privacy, Privacy Expert, Privacy Policy.

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