The social media is ever so popular and it keeps growing. It is a way where you can stay in touch with friends and families. There is the chance to meet people like yourself and you are able to meet new friends. You can also stay in touch classmates and co-workers. Have you taken the time out to ask yourself, how much information does Facebook really know about you? When you delete messages and pictures is it deleted permanently? It seems that Facebook does not practice total deletion. Should this be a concern to us? It is a scary question to ask yourself, when you start to think about how much and what information you have put on Facebook so far. The messages you have left on the wall and private messages you have sent. It couldn’t hurt to ask someone with information assurance training.
If you read the private policy on Facebook, you will see that it states that they may use information that is collected about you from other sources like other users in Facebook. They also use general information that you give like your name, address, schools that you may have attended and other personal information. They collect your IP address as well as what kind of browser you use. Facebook keeps a backup copy of what you may have had before, after an update is done. They allow third parties to have access to your information for a limited time as long as they use it for “business activities”. This is where you have to ask what exactly does that mean? After reading the entire privacy policy, you are left with more questions than answers. Many suspicious people believe that Facebook in a government tool to get your private information freely. They also believe that the government maintains the server and that is why there is no need to pay for it. Of course, the reason you don’t have to pay for Facebook is because both you and your personal information are what Facebook sells. You are the product they sell.
After pondering how much information Facebook has about you, you also have to wonder how this information can hurt you. The timeline can be a way that information can hurt you or be used against you. If someone really wants to find information about you, that they may feel can bring some harm to you, all they have to do is scroll down through the timeline. There they can find old post or photos you may have forgotten about or you may find to be embarrassing. Third party app providers can collect personal details about you. Even information you put as private. These third party app providers include games like Farmville and Word. The third party app providers sell your information to advertisers, without your knowledge.
There are steps you can take to protect yourself from what information Facebook, along with the third party providers, can obtain from you. When it comes to the timeline, you will want to hold the cursor over a post or picture and then click on the pencil. After that select edit or remove, then click on hide from timeline. As for these third party app providers, it is a good idea to read the user agreement and privacy policies. You can also place a higher level on the privacy settings. Of course the best thing to do is to watch what you post on the wall. If you are going to chat, be cautious what you chat about. Use this knowledge to work for you.
