You’ve worked hard to build your audience and to market your products to them. You’ve even found enough success that your social media feeds are populated equally by fans you’ve never met as they are by your “real-life” friends and family who followed you out of loyal obligation. You’re on your way to becoming a public figure and that makes you wonder: how much privacy do you really have anymore? What if you want more than people are willing to give?
One thing is for sure: there is a contingent on the web that is absolutely and completely sure that nobody should have any privacy. These are hackers and other nefarious types who want into your system. They want to know your passwords. They want to steal your identity and your money and damage your reputation because, frankly, they’re bored and want to see if they can.
Protecting yourself against these jerks is easy. You can install antivirus software and uber-strong firewalls; you can buy and install top of the line cyber security solutions that will keep hackers out. Installing cyber security helps you put up a great big wall between you and the rest of the Internet with an armed guard sitting at the gate. Whenever anybody tries to do anything to your systems, your guard says, “Yo, boss, did you give this guy permission to come in?”
But what about everybody else? What about the people who believe that they have the right, as fans, to see what you’re saying to your Mom on Facebook? What about the government officials who want to monitor your email to make sure you aren’t communicating, however innocently, with anyone they’ve deemed questionable or nefarious?
In both of these cases, it would seem, the answer is tough luck. More and more, the social media networks, cellular and internet providers and web portals are turning over your information and messing with your privacy settings and security and not letting you have any say in it.
For example, Facebook recently “updated” its security settings so that, regardless of what you’ve designated in your account’s privacy settings, anybody can find your Facebook page by searching for your name. This raised eyebrows because of the number of people who, simply put, might not want to be found.
It turns out, according to ABC News, whether or not you want to be found doesn’t matter. What matters is that some users were complaining that people they knew weren’t turning up in name-specific search results. Because, you know, nobody would opt out on purpose…except maybe for someone who was hoping to stay off of someone’s radar.
If you use Gmail and want your emails to stay private…you need to switch to a different email provider. Google recently updated its privacy settings and conditions to give them permission (unless you opt out) to use your photos, reviews, posts, etc in their advertisements. Sure—you’re trying to build an audience and any exposure is good exposure right? But what if they put your face in an ad for something you would never endorse? Too bad! You’re a Google user!
Google and Facebook aren’t the only networks and web portals with these types of sketchy privacy settings. MySpace, which is trying to make a comeback, is famous for sketchy privacy settings. If you want to make sure your information and communications are safe, it’s best to use independent and not web-based communication apparatuses. Save the social media for the things you want everyone to know. Good luck!
