Fun with no boundaries comes privacy issues

With its vast selections of applications and outlets, Facebook has fast become a new media tool that everyone is using. But does the audiences know behind the 'greatness' of the product comes privacy concerns with its lack of boundaries for contact sharing.

According to ABC News it is known that Facebook application requires users to allow Facebook to obtain private information but little is known of what thier information is needed for. Contact information gained will be sent to Companies for thier contact database to track thier users online this causes privacy breach called data mining.

Image taken from: http://www.dijexi.com/2009/07/5-simple-basic-steps-to-create-facebook-application/

"Others paint a more pessimistic picture, and predicts that freedom will be endangered by the reduction of privacy for an individual as a registered citizen, a transparent employee and a consumer screened for every personal characteristic, by the growing  the growing opportunities for central control". ( Jan Van Dijk 2006)

Users must understand and acknowledge their information as private because letting other outlets get hold of thier private information is like letting a burglar into our homes in new media form. When informations are gathered and posted into the internet, there is no turning back or getting back of our private informations. For example Facebook terms and condition says that 'For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (“IP content”), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (“IP License”). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it'. It is a form of data mining such as a case where by  two MIT students downloaded 70,000 Facebook porfiles using automated script from four schools NYU, MIT, the University of Oklahoma, and Harvard as part of their research project. (John Charlton)

With the ever so expanding interface of new media with it's vulnerability of privacy protection, how will you protect your own privacy? Here are a few ways to avoid privacy theft:

1. Remove yourself from Facebook Search engine
2. Avoid wrong tagging
3. Protect your albums
4. Make contact information private

Reference

1. Maria, L. 2010. Coneect with Facebook. An Electiv Mind[blog] 21st July. Available at: http://www.google.com.my/imglanding?q=facebook+requesting&um=1&hl=en&biw=1899&bih=783&tbs=isch:1&tbnid=N7oZvr7ZQsHTHM:&imgrefurl=http://www.aneclecticmind.com/2010/07/21/connect-with-facebook/&imgurl=http://www.aneclecticmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/RequestForPermission.jpg&zoom=1&w=450&h=289&iact=rc&ei=V9zbTO4Gi-y4A8jQ0bwI&oei=V9zbTO4Gi-y4A8jQ0bwI&esq=1&page=1&tbnh=136&tbnw=212&start=0&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0
2. Jan, V, D, 2006. The Network Society[e-book] Netherlands, bOHN, S, V, L. Available at: http://books.google.com.my/books?hl=en&lr=&id=b7ktTPViIYMC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=new+media+privacy&ots=GFJMi5IvpT&sig=tBdMc4XkkBG0p9vwjCtwWRQ5HRk#v=onepage&q=new%20media%20privacy&f=false
3. John C. How Facebook could use your photographs without your permission. John Charlton Photography, [blog]. Available at: http://www.johncharltonphotography.co.uk/how-facebook-could-use-your-photographs-without-your-permission/
4. Wikipedia. Criticism of Facebook [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook
5. Nick,O. 2009. 10 Privacy setting that Facebook users should know. All Facebook, [blog] 18th June. Available at: http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-privacy-2009-02