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I would be very careful if you have a Facebook account.  If you've been reading the recent news articles about the changes at FB, you would probably not ever go there if you value your privacy and personal information at all.
 
Ned's comments confirm my concerns re FB over a year ago. I'd visited and registered in search of an adult family member who had been signed up by her DIL. Registration was the first thing to raise an alarm for me; It was clearly asking for way too much information which, in self defense, I faked. Following registration, it took just a few keystrokes to find the relative and all her family and friends hooked to her account. I couldn't believe some of the stuff being posted by her kids and grandkids, apparently ignorant of the fact that it was all public.

I immediately raised a red flag, and suggested we communicate via email instead, which we did. Some months later, one of her (adult) kids sent me an email saying he'd come to realize how public the stuff was, and said he'd only be using email from then on. Smart guy.
 
If you are cognizant of how you use Facebook it can be and is a very useful social engagement tool.  You don't have to post any more information on there than you would to get your name in the phone book.  Some folks, can and do open themselves up to identity theft by posting more information than you could imagine, but that doesn't have to be the case.

That said, if you are diligent and use some of the good judgement endowed to you by your creator, it is a very useful way to stay engaged with folks you would otherwise have no knowledge of. 

That said, we are entering a new world of communication and information.  It is scary, but also exciting.  Unfortunately, there is no turning back and there is truly no way to live "off the grid" anymore if you participate in society.  All of your vital information has been digitized, it cannot be avoided. The best approach (IMHO) is to be aware that hackers can and will steal your data (just like they can and will steal your car or property if they want to), and to be proactive in guarding yourself against ID theft.  Keep on top of your credit report, use an alerting service, and change up important passwords routinely.  A little pro-activity will spare you the biggest amount of pain.

Sorry, not trying to rant, but there are many positives to new technologies, along with the risks.  You are at more risk of getting your data stolen through a loan holder, credit card provider, bank, or state DMV, than via facebook.  Those are much more "target rich" environments for theft because they have SSNs, CC#s, and perhaps income/asset data to leverage. 

Ok, rant off...apologies. ;D
 
All good points, Christian/Jenn/Holden and Emerson.

Good rebuttal, but....another window is now open to let the pests in. I happen to not be a Social engagee, so FB does not apply to me whatsoever..

However; I was lured into FB one time by an old friend (My EX) (trying to stay on friendly terms)  :eek: and after 3 days of watching what was going on, I backed out of the system right away...saw too many dangers. (Even had my pix on it).

  Now that I am getting old and can easily be accused of "not-getting-with-it" but I still sense danger when I see it.

Managing a trouble-free life is not an accident, it's planned. It's in the DNA.  :)

Somehow I put all the other personal websites like blogs, etc. in the same category. A piece of advice: Don't get old or you will turn into someone like me.

Just ranting...

carson FL


 
My daughter made me do it.  Indeed she did it for me. She uses it A LOT to keep up with friends around the country and cousins.  I have used it a wee little.
 
Mc2guy said:
If you are cognizant of how you use Facebook it can be and is a very useful social engagement tool.  You don't have to post any more information on there than you would to get your name in the phone book.  Some folks, can and do open themselves up to identity theft by posting more information than you could imagine, but that doesn't have to be the case.

That said, if you are diligent and use some of the good judgement endowed to you by your creator, it is a very useful way to stay engaged with folks you would otherwise have no knowledge of. 

That said, we are entering a new world of communication and information.  It is scary, but also exciting.  Unfortunately, there is no turning back and there is truly no way to live "off the grid" anymore if you participate in society.  All of your vital information has been digitized, it cannot be avoided. The best approach (IMHO) is to be aware that hackers can and will steal your data (just like they can and will steal your car or property if they want to), and to be proactive in guarding yourself against ID theft.  Keep on top of your credit report, use an alerting service, and change up important passwords routinely.  A little pro-activity will spare you the biggest amount of pain.

Sorry, not trying to rant, but there are many positives to new technologies, along with the risks.  You are at more risk of getting your data stolen through a loan holder, credit card provider, bank, or state DMV, than via facebook.  Those are much more "target rich" environments for theft because they have SSNs, CC#s, and perhaps income/asset data to leverage. 

Ok, rant off...apologies. ;D
Click to expand...

I fully agree with you.  My husband runs the Internet Crime unit at our local Law Enforcement Dept., and I have learned from him what info to share and what not to share.  There are enough privacy settings on Facebook to ensure that you don't have to share any more information than you want.  Mine is set to share with friends only, and if someone I don't recognize tries to "friend" me, I ignore it.  Facebook is like any other electronic medium today.  It's as safe as you make it.

And speaking of "target rich" environments, have you checked to see if your insurance company has been hacked?  Because they have never been perceived that much as a threat before, insurance companies are now under constant attack from hackers.  And if that doesn't strike chord of fear, it should.  Not only do they have your entire medical history, but also all your personal info, including your SSN.

Long story short, in today's computer age, noone is safe anymore from internet crime, whether you get on a computer or not.  Your information can still get stolen from a third party.  The key is to be informed.  I check our bank and credit card accounts on a daily basis and would know immediately if there was something going on.  I also get a credit report twice a year and check that thoroughly.

Sorry to get on my soapbox, but I have personally met a few senior citizens who thought they were safe from identity theft because they didn't have a computer, and they lost everything, and it broke my heart.

Social media will not make you a victim.  Not taking charge of your own information will.
 
Understand your points Christian. I used to consider myself an early adopter of new technologies, but now I don't know if I'm being wise, cautious, or paranoid. Having been around the bleeding edge for many, many years, I'm not afraid of technology or new things, but maybe I've come to better respect the potential abuse and dangers.

Some years ago a grandson was doing a college project and asked me to provide the genealogical info I'd amassed on the family. I sent it to him under one condition - that his project was never published online.
 
Carson, that would be Facebook, Google, Twitter, or something not yet invented.
 
As most of you know, it is up to you whether or not to paticipate.  FB offers opt-outs which I take for sharing my info with others.  I make some of my albums public, for instance Yellowstone shots.  Pics of family are friends only.  The site has more controls over privacy than any other I know of. 

Feel like it is a total invasion, don't participate.  If you watch yourself, it is fine.  I feel the pro's outweigh the con's. 

I do agree that some folks just seem to oppen their whole life to it, but that is a lesson for them to learn eventually.  The point about your info more likely to be grabbed from the DMV, inszurance etc is much greater, as they said, the pot is richer.  What can they learn from my FB?  What can they learn from DMV?  Look at the Veterans group that got hacked in the past couple years. 
 
The battle is already lost.  If you go online, you have no privacy.  You have no control over any information that you give to anyone, be it a web site or a friend.  If that friend's computer gets hacked, then your email and other information he has about you is now out of your and his control.

Recent changes at Facebook have made your information even less private than you think.  Please search out and read the recent news stories about what's happening there.
 
One of the recent changes on FB is a FB friendly related websites.  If you go on these sites it will check your information to make their site more relevent.  That is the nice way of saying it.  So far there are only a few sites.  When it was announced subscribers were apprised that they can opt out in their privacy settings.  I opted out, even though I wouldn't ever go to the sites mentioned.

FB takes the hit as the big nasty and there are a lot of flase reports out there about how they share.  There are also true reports, but it seems most of the reports I track down are false. 

From charging for use to broadcasting your friend list.  FB = boogeyman in many eyes.
 
Like you, BIll, I also opted out on my privacy settings.

I am not trying to make a convert out of anyone, and please forgive me if I came too strong.  I had a neighbor, 76 years old, who thought she was safe because she had never been on a computer, never purchased anything online, etc.  Her account was one of the ones hacked into through the insurance company.  They stole her SSN, all her info and her identity.  By the time they were through, they amassed over $250,000 in debt in her name, and she couldn't understand how since she hadn't been on the computer.  No matter how many times I tried to explain to her that everybody has information stored on some computers, she just didn't see it.  She died 6 months later of a heart attack brought on by stress.  So, please don't think that I'm being a mean biddy...I'm not.  I'm just saying that we do not have the capability any longer of protecting our own info.  It's in too many hands. 

Ok, shutting up now...  ::)
 
Bill, I don't believe anyone here is trying to make FB out to be the "big nasty". I believe we all agree that there are risks using FB, especially for folks who aren't that savvy about internet security. My then 62 year old cousin had received her first PC as a Christmas gift, and her DIL immediately signed her up for a FB account. It was clear that nobody on that side of the family, starting with my cousin, had any idea of the possible security issues.

I don't believe I was wrong to point out the dangers and suggest the internet neophyte switch to email.
 
I agree with you Tom.  For someone with no internet savvy, it could be really easy to misunderstand how best to share (or not) your personal information on a social media website.  I just think the risks are generally over-exaggerated for social sites, and under-reported for everything else.  I live in much greater fear that my CC/SSN/Bank Accounts will get hacked than someone finds out that I have a cousin named Betty Boop living in Altoona.

As for "who will win the battle" per Carson's question, I don't think there will ever be a winner or loser.  Criminals have always found ways to exploit the vulnerable, and will continue to do so long after we are all dust.  Good citizens will continue to fight the good fight and will, as history has shown, usually be about a half step behind the predators.

Regarding the digitalization of information, that battle was lost on December 2, 1993.  If I recall, that was the date scientists estimate that the amount of digitally stored data surpassed analog data.  Somehow I don't see that page getting turned back.
 
The problem with Face Book is 3rd party apps.. "Farmland" for example is a 3rd party app.

When you sign up for Farmland. All your registration info is sent to them, Name both real and screen, Address, both E-dress and Physical, and more...  Now Farmland has signed an agreement to keep this confidential.. (And far as I know they do) but many of the 3rd party app companies have violated that agreement (And been terminated by FaceBook as a result) already.

So... Some of the info on  my facebook account... IS false 
 
Haven't been on FB for some time, for reasons previously stated. I just spent a couple of minutes there after receiving a heads-up from a family member about stuff that they recently posted. I'm more convinced than ever that folks have no clue that some or all of the private &/or compromising stuff they're posting is visible to the world.

Added to this is the red flag that Ned raised about FB's recent "share your profile with others before you can say no" news.

I'll continue to recommend that folks who are not internet savvy stay away from FB. Anything less would be irresponsible. My apologies to the "FB is safe" crowd, but it's not.
 
I'm on there and pretty active mainly I'm assuming because of my age compared to the rest of the forum. You do have to be careful of what you accept and what things you join. I don't do any of the Mafia wars, Farmville or whatever other crap they got there.

Being ex-military I have old friends all over the country and world that I have found and able to keep in touch with. I get friend request all the time but if I don't know you and there isn't a message then I ignore the user.

EDIT:
For those who feel nervous about being on FB...Do you do any online banking, buy online, pay bills online? Because if you do your more at risk through something like that then what information you post on FB.
 
Do you do any online banking, buy online, pay bills online? Because if you do your more at risk through something like that then what information you post on FB.
Click to expand...

Not by a long shot.  You need to study up on internet security and things like SSL.  And particularly read the terms of service at places like Facebook.
 
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