In Germany, there is a law called the German Telemedia Act that allows the citizens the right to use nicknames online.  Thus, Germans should be able to increase their Facebook privacy by using a fake name on their account.  Facebook, however, has a strict “real name only” policy.  They refuse to allow the use of pseudonyms, even in Germany.

The German Data Protection Commissioner has ordered Facebook to stop disabling fake name accounts.  They must allow the use of fake names immediately, said privacy commissioner Thilo Weichert.  The decree is official and binding.

From yesterday’s article on IT World by Loek Essers:

“Weichert [stated] that it is unacceptable that a U.S. portal like Facebook keeps violating German data protection law. To ensure users’ rights and comply with data protection law in general, the real name obligation must be immediately abandoned by Facebook.”

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Along with many proposed changes to the Facebook privacy policy, Facebook has announced changes to its privacy controls.  The social networking giant will roll out these changes by the end of this month.  Some of the changes are good for enhanced Facebook privacy–but some of them are not.

The Good

1. Privacy Shortcuts on the main page.  There will now be a drop-down menu next to the Home button on the main page that will allow you to quickly and easily access privacy settings.  The options will read: “Who can see my stuff?” “Who can contact me?” and “How do I stop someone from bothering me?”  These shortcuts will be much faster than the old way of navigating through an entire separate set of pages to change your timeline settings.  According to Lisa Vaas of Naked Security:“In the best of all possible worlds, the ease of access to Facebook privacy controls would increase their use.  That’s good. It’s hard to imagine their use getting worse… Consumer Reports reported in April, 13 million US Facebook users aren’t using, or are oblivious to, privacy controls.”
2. Request Removal tool for multiple photo tags.  This allows you to make a request to your friends to remove tags of you from their photos in batches, instead of having to send a request for each photo individually.  You can also add a message about why it’s important that your friend remove these tags.  The photos can still appear on your friends’ timeline, though, and also the timeline of anyone else tagged in the photos.
3. Privacy Education Notices.  These will appear in-context as you are using Facebook.  These notices should increase users’ understanding of how sharing their content works and who can see what.

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Users Fail to Vote Over Facebook Privacy Issues

This past Monday was your last chance to vote on proposed changes to the Facebook privacy policy.  Sadly, not nearly enough Facebook users participated in the vote for the results to count.

At least 30% of users must vote on Facebook privacy policy changes for the results to be binding.   Though almost 600,000 users did cast their vote, the number is still far short of the 300 million votes that would be needed.  It’s not even close to 1% of all Facebook users!

One proposed change is that users will no longer have the option to vote on Facebook privacy policy changes.  Facebook feels that the old voting system encourages quantity of user comments, not quality.  They seek to replace the voting system with a question submittal system and video webcasts.  They believe the new system will be a better way to “effectively engage” with users.

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In White House, Tenessee, a local teen is plagued with a major Facebook privacy issue.  It seems someone has been using her identity over several social networks.  The teenage girl, Morgan Pentecost, took every precaution she could to try to make her Facebook photos and information private.  But the offender was still able to get a hold of her photos to create a dozen fake profiles across every imaginable social network.

Morgan is probably like you, she simply wants to use Facebook to connect with friends by sharing pictures and status updates, etc.  But it has become dangerous for her to post photos and details about her life.  The imitator can ruin her reputation online by misusing her content.

The Pentecost family has dealt with this situation for years.  Unfortunately, with spotty laws protecting Facebook privacy, there is little that can be done.  The family filed a report with both the local police department and Facebook.  But to date, the problem continues.

The police did investigate the problem about a year ago, when the Pentecosts first reported the problem.  They were able to trace one fake account to a 14-year-old girl in Georgia.  However, they determined she wasn’t doing anything illegal.  It was not considered “identity theft” because there was no monetary gain involved.  Similarly, it wasn’t considered stalking because no one tried to contact Morgan repeatedly.

Thus, the situation remains, causing Morgan and her family much distress.  Since Facebook privacy laws are incomplete to non-existent, the law cannot offer the Pentecost family any protection or legal recourse.

Watch the full news story here

Your Facebook privacy is at risk when anyone can portray you over the internet with no legal consequence.  If you are concerned with major Facebook privacy risks like this, delete Facebook data with YAPZAPP!

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Yesterday, Business Insider featured an article in which Professor Neil Richards’ discusses the dangers of having too much data available over the internet.  Most notably, social networking creates a huge amount of trackable data on individuals.  Here’s why it’s time to delete Facebook data from your account… or perhaps delete Facebook altogether.

It’s hard to say exactly how much data on you is floating around in cyberspace.  Suffice to say that for users of social media, it’s too much.  The digital world has exploded so quickly that privacy law has not been able to keep up.  Numerous cases have shown that the law is spotty when it comes to protecting individuals’ privacy over the internet.

Furthermore, all of that data is readily available to governments or other interested parties willing to pay.  This has serious privacy implications for individuals.

According to Richards, it is important to maintain a concept of the big picture: the explosion of the digital world means that your private life is not so private any more.

Richards shares an invaluable insight regarding this:

“What I do see happening is big institutions, the government, police forces, tech companies, they’re always pushing, they’re always asking for more, they’re trying to intrude more into personal information and previously private zones.”

Social networking sites like Facebook provide a huge amount of this sort of “private zone” data.  This data is valuable to many parties other than you:

1. Facebook, who can profit off of “selling” your data
2. Advertisers, who can “purchase” access to your data to market to you
3. Governments, who want access to personal data for criminal investigations
4. Data mining companies, who can harvest and sell data

The trend, as Richards points out, is a continually increasing hunger for individuals’ data.   You can protect yourself before it is too late if you delete Facebook data with YAPZAPP!

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Last week, we posted about proposed changes to the Facebook privacy policy.  Facebook is giving its users one last chance to have a say on whether or not they’d like to adapt the updated policy.  One proposed change will eliminate users’ ability to vote on any future privacy changes.  Thus, this vote may be the last one you’ll have an opportunity to participate in.  That is, of course, unless 30% of Facebook users vote against the updates to the Facebook privacy policy by Monday, December 10 at 3pm.

Among the proposed changes:

• Users will no longer be able to vote on Facebook privacy policy change; instead they will be able to submit questions and participate in webcasts to give their feedback
• Facebook will be able to share user data across any and all affiliate networks, such as Instagram
• Users will not be able to control who can send them messages; any user can
• Facebook will clarify a sentence in the policy about who can view hidden content on your Timeline

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Recently, the FBI arrested American terror suspects charged with plotting to wage a violent jihad.  Interestingly, a large portion of the evidence brought against these California men was from their Facebook activity.  Much of the activity did imply the men supported the Taliban.  But is Facebook privacy at risk when the FBI can use YOUR “Likes” and “Shares” against you in a court of law?

Some of the evidence items listed by the FBI were “items reflecting a mistrust of mainstream media, abuses by the government, conspiracy theories, abuses by law enforcement, and the war in Afghanistan.”  It is curious to note that the FBI lists speaking out against “abuses by the government” and “abuses by law enforcement” as indicative of terrorist involvement. As Mike Masnick of Tech Dirt points out:

“It certainly gives pause to suggest that “likes” and “shares” on Facebook are somehow evidence of terrorist intent. It could certainly be seen as having a chilling effect for anyone who might “like” or “share” content on Facebook that is critical of the US government.”

It is a Facebook privacy concern that the FBI can use your social networking activity against you.  They can draw conclusions based on what you like and share, and not your direct words and actions.  If you are under suspicion, anything you post that is critical of the government may be construed as anti-American.  In the case of the indicted terrorists, whom also had a lot of hard evidence against them, these conclusions are almost certainly true.  But they may not always be true in every case.  Facebook privacy is better served when strict guidelines are placed on how government agencies can use and interpret your social networking activity.

Meanwhile, you can use YAPZAPP! to delete Facebook data you think could be used against you by your government or anyone else.

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On Monday, we posted about the most recent update to Facebook’s privacy policy.  In response to the changes, two Facebook privacy groups have voiced objections: the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD).  In a letter to Facebook, the two groups spoke out against changes that will put users’ Facebook privacy at risk:

“Because these proposed changes raise privacy risks for users, may be contrary to law, and violate your previous commitments to users about site governance, we urge you to withdraw the proposed changes,” stated EPIC and CDD.  

The main change in question is Facebook’s proposal to share its users’ data with its subsidiary company Instagram.  Facebook claims that sharing user data across the two networks will improve the quality of ads for its users.  This also means Facebook will be able to “squeeze more money out of ads,” as author Kelly Fiveash put it in a recent article on The Register.

Regarding data sharing, EPIC and CDD are quick to point out that Facebook is still subject to conditions laid out in a recent FTC settlement. The settlement “prohibits [Facebook] from changing privacy settings without the affirmative consent of users or misrepresenting the privacy or security of users’ personal information.”

Certainly, Facebook intends to roll out the latest changes without the consent of its users.  In fact, Facebook intends do away with users’ ability to vote on privacy policy changes altogether, which is another concern of Facebook privacy advocates.  In the case of sharing data with Instagram, a representative from Facebook told LA Times on Monday:

As our company grows, we acquire businesses that become a legal part of our organization. Those companies sometimes operate as affiliates. We wanted to clarify that we will share information with our affiliates and vice versa, both to help improve our services and theirs, and to take advantage of storage efficiencies.

The problem here is that when a Facebook user makes data available on the Facebook network, he is not necessarily aware that he makes that same data available across other affiliate networks as well.  Facebook has now made it clear that the data will be shared, but it is yet unclear whether this applies to data shared on Facebook prior to the announcement.

The Irish Data Protection Commission, who ensures Facebook privacy policy is in line with European law, has requested further clarification on such details of the update.  They will continue to work with Facebook to ensure they operate within the confines of European law, which mirrors the stipulations from the FTC settlement.

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Just before Thanksgiving, Facebook announced another update to its privacy policy.  Facebook privacy changes are usually met with skepticism due to a lack of trust for the social networking giant.  So it is no surprise that a few of these changes caught the eye of Facebook privacy watchdogs.

The first detail to be wary of is the timing of the update.  Facebook made its announcement the day before a long holiday weekend in which most Americans–including members of the tech media–take a break from checking the news.  Facebook users were given just one week to leave comments about the new changes.

Secondly, Facebook has revoked users’ right to vote on privacy policy changes.  In 2009, CEO Mark Zuckerberg created a system in which any Facebook privacy policy change that received over 7,000 comments could be put to a vote for user acceptance.  Any change receiving 30% of user vote would be enacted.

Now that ability to vote has been revoked.  Facebook claims that the old system encouraged quantity of comments but not quality.  Facebook assures that it will still “listen to” user comments about policy change, but it will not bind itself to a vote.  This gives Facebook complete power over privacy policy.  It also gives the impression that Facebook will do what it wants regardless of what its users think.

Thirdly, Facebook has proposed that it will share its user data with subsidiary company Instagram.  Facebook privacy advocates are troubled by this suggestion because it means user data will be shared in a new way without user consent.

Fourth, Facebook will remove users’ control over who can send them private messages.  Instead, any Facebook user will be able to send you a message.  The concern about this Facebook privacy change is that it could leave users exposed to what Reuters calls “a flood of unwanted, spam-like messages.”

These Facebook privacy changes are bothersome, but clearly, there will be no vote about them.

As explained in SF Gate’s Tech Chronicles:

“These changes and the suspicious timing of their announcement are unfortunate. But Facebook is a business, not a public service… and use is voluntary. If these changes bother you, the best way to vocalize dissent is to close your account.”

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1. People you added because “they’re hot.”  It is possible you could have built an association with the hottie who added you on Facebook.  But if it’s been a couple months or more, chances are he or she is now just another stranger with access to your personal life.
2. Friends and family of exes.  These are people you may have hung out with regularly in the past, but you do not anymore.  It’s time to delete Facebook exes and their crew.
3. Judgemental family members.  You go on Facebook for fun, and not to be ridiculed.  Free yourself from negative family members.
4. Guilt Adds.  Ever add someone just because you would feel guilty if you didn’t, and for no other reason?  Now that it’s been some time, delete Facebook guilt adds.
5. The Deceased.  If you have Facebook friends that have been laid to rest in real life, it’s time to lay them to rest in the digital world as well.
6. Friends of your parents  and relatives.  She may be your mom’s BFF, but if you don’t really know her, consider excluding her from your friend list.
7. Work associates.  It is not usually in your best interest for the work colleague you don’t interact with socially to have access to you on Facebook.  If you wouldn’t tell him details of your personal life in real life, delete Facebook ties with him.
8. Old teachers, coaches, etc.  These people may have been influential in your younger years.  If they no longer have an effect in your adult life, perhaps it’s time you delete Facebook connections with them.

If you haven’t already this week, take some time today to delete Facebook friends you no longer need.  Not only is this a good practice for Facebook privacy, but perhaps you’ll clear some “clutter” from your newsfeed and your mindspace.  Happy Unfriend Friday!

Photo courtesy of Oli Dunkley on Flickr via CC license

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