Are you worried about privacy after the Facebook scandal?

[mutantdonut]

Many of us understand that whatever we do on the internet will leave a fingerprint of our online activities, even if it's "deleted." Hopefully that's not a surprise to anyone. One of the major things about the Facebook controversy is that it not only records our personal activities, but also gives them access to dig into people we're associated with. I don't think i know the full scope of the privacy breach but this is tidbit of what i understand... they collect shadow prints of the people we're connected with - parents, siblings, best friends, co-workers, and even people who have no relationship with us other than being a troll. What's more is that none of our associates are required to sign up for Facebook in order for them to collect data on everyone.

How worried are you about your privacy, not just with Facebook but with EVERYTHING connected througe telecommunications?

 

[Lintilla]

I was worried about it years BEFORE the FB scandal, and that's why both my FB and Instagram accounts have been long deleted. Nothing about the situation is really new information. I am no longer using Skype personally (model account will be going as soon as I find an alternative I like), and I'm none to pleased with certain other services I use, so I try to limit what information they have access to. There are many other services I will never touch, or have deleted.

Of course, FB and others will continue to track you even without an account. I recommend looking into EFF's Privacy Badger (if you browse through EFF's website you'll also find things like their Surveillance Self-Defense guide) or using Brave as your browser. I prefer to keep even frivolous things like chat with friends encrypted, so I don't text message, but use clients with end-to-end-encryption instead (although there are not many good options at the moment, so it's a trade-ff between features and security). Firefox has recently introduced Facebook Container to segregate your Facebook sessions from the rest of your web browsing.

It's not so much that I'm worried, in my case, as far as my personal life goes, I just don't feel like I particularly WANT to give these companies so much information about myself, and can't approve of it because I know how much it puts other people in actual danger. In my business life, having accounts shut down is a real concern. I don't store anything in the cloud that I don't have my own copy of. I'm transitioning away from Gmail now that my content is more likely to get my accounts shut down, and moving to Protonmail and my own domains (most of my accounts are through my own domains to begin with, so I only need to change how I access them).

I'm considering looking into moving my domains and other hosting, but it's not an immediate concern of mine. Either way, it's never been my preference to give control of my content to any other site, and now with the Free Speech Coalition etc. at least getting some indication that 2257 may not need to apply to performers over 30, it may be possible for me to look harder into self-hosting my content again. I'd like to move back to blogging or micro-blogging on my own territory again as well, as opposed to staying dependent on social media. I've been on Twitter for 11 years, and I'm kind of over it. Privacy concerns aside, it's a toxic environment these days. I would rather pay for things myself vs. effectively sell my personal data.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

How worried are you about your privacy, not just with Facebook but with EVERYTHING connected througe telecommunications?

With Facebook? No, not at all. Don't have an account and have never visited the site. Decided long ago they were not trustworthy. There's no valid reason for them to have ever collected that information in the first place. Them asking was the red flag that should have put them out of business years ago.

With the rest of the internet... My real name gives zero results in a google search. That shows how much i've put real information on any site. If i can't make a fake username, i don't make an account. My credit cards don't even know my mother's real maiden name. Hell, they don't even know my first pet's name or my teachers name in high school. I make up everything, even the security questions.

And let's be honest here, VPN for the mother fuckin' win! Mine's never off on any device i'm on. In this day and age I think you're foolish to not have one for anything you do online.

 

[justjoinedtopost]

Listening to the Congressional hearing other day, I was a little surprised to hear a congresswoman bring up Total Information Awareness. I didn't listen to the whole thing, just caught a little bit on the radio while I was out; did anyone ask Zuckerberg about working with Pakistan, how he felt about the death penalty convictions for blasphemy on FB? Or was Diamond and Silk being censored pretty much the highlight?

I voted "Red" in the poll, but that is only because there wasn't a "Black: Fatalistic acceptance of the inevitable" option. And as a stand-alone event, I am guessing this Facebook hearing on Charade Capitol Hill the other day barely rises to the level of a limited hangout in terms of disclosure.

Spoiler: ramblings

Let's go way back...a computer lab filled with TRS-80s. When we aren't learning BASIC, we are sitting there playing Moon Lander. The man who leads our class, Brother [name redacted] is also well versed in what is coming; several times during chapel, he rants at length about how they are going to be used to watch every transaction we make, every place we go, every move we make; complete control...Mark of the Beast. Brother [name redacted] may deserve the credit for the fact that a few years later, I occasionally wake from a nightmare, and get up to go check and make sure my C 64 is still turned off.

A couple more years go by...new electronic time clocks at work. Nobody is happy about them, we are going to have to carry a card now. Time sheets are so much easier (and prone to abuse ). HR has their ear to the ground about how unpopular the idea is; in our meeting, they say "We understand nobody likes this, but you may as well get used to it. In a few years, these things are going to watch every thing we do".

Around the same time, I turn on a baby monitor one evening. I recognize the voice of my neighbor; listen long enough to realize I am eavesdropping on a personal family matter. Called her up, completely freaked her out.

The annoying beepers give way to cellphones. It has already come out how in bed with government Microsoft is, but you still might be called a tin foil nutter if you express any suspicions about technology to the ignorant. But hey, what do you know! Neal Boortz is on my radio, ranting and fuming about the government remotely activating microphones on cellphones! I lost touch with the neighbor I overheard on the baby monitor years ago, but now I wonder; does she go anywhere without one?

In the middle of a phone call, a family member is about to reveal something scandalous to me about a relationship she is in (infidelity on her part)...
Her: "I want to tell you something, but you have to promise me you won't breathe a word about it to anyone".
Me: "OK, but whatever it is, keep in mind you are not just talking to me."
Her: "What do you mean?"
Me: "You are talking into a cellphone. You don't know who is listening or recording."
Her: (awkward pause, probably thinking "he's off his meds again").
Me: (waiting, thinking "That's right. Take it with you to the bathroom, gaze into it while you are taking a shit. Leave it sitting right there on the nightstand while you do your pillow talk. Make sure every time you are giving your kid a lecture it is right there silently listening. Then tell me again how crazy I am you ignorant cunt.")

Family members come over, I say "Do you mind leaving your cellphone on the counter there? Let's go in the other room and talk." Very strange looks. What an odd request! Nothing going on worth hiding, just mundane chit chat.... but mundane chit chat is much better when you look each other in the face (as opposed to trying to talk to someone who is staring slackjawed into their palm, their blank expression occasionally giving way to a half-smile when they swipe and something amuses them. Has nothing to do with wondering about any number of agencies from any number of governments, or any number of corporations, that might be listening).

We can talk about Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, LinkedIn, IBM/Intel/etc., Vault 7, NSA/CIA leaked tools, Utah Data Center (and who-knows-what-facilities we don't know about), government databases (and who-knows-how-many private contractors that have access to them), hacked financial institutions/corporate databases, Chinese microchips, hardware-level backdoors, EU governments pressing for censorship, yada yada yada....but I suspect any talk about delusions like privacy in this day and age are just that--delusional.

Nothing to hide? Or nothing left to hide?

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/facebook-listens/
I look forward to David Mikkelson's assessment of the role Facebook has played in getting people sentenced to death. Or the people other than Diamond and Silk that have reportedly have been censored on behalf of various governments/political parties.

 

[DJ_Pioneer]

In my opinion they only people who are really worried about this is those who have been more or less willfully blind to what cyber security is.I wasn't surprised by the Snowden leak, it just confirmed what most of us who are interested in this stuff already believed. The fact that Facebook collects data was no surprise either, data collection is something I have thought about since I first joined an online community in 1999. Something I have learned over the years is if you want to store something electronically and have it as safe as possible you store it on an machine that can't be hooked up to any network. If Valve can be hacked and have the source code for Half-life 2 leaked onto the internet before the game is released then everything we have stored both locally on our devices and on servers somewhere else isn't safe either. To just hand out personal information about ourselves to big companies like it is free candy to companies like Facebook and be surprised when something like this happens just shows how uneducated people in general are about these things.

My advice to anyone on the Internet is before you post something consider if it would be damaging to you if it got out that if it was you who posted it. When you answer questions that seem fun and harmless on the internet be aware that they can be used to build up a profile about you and your interests and if they manage to figure out who you are and link the different aliases you have used on the internet they pretty much know all about you if they have answered enough of those questions. Below hidden in a spoiler tag are a bunch of what I would call typical @Guy questions that I have collected.

Spoiler

When was the last time you bought a porn magazine?
Whats your favorite type of Gin?
Whats your favorite type of pancakes?
Have you ever had a bladder stone?
What do you do on Valentine's Day?
Have you ever had a gallstone?
Have you ever had a kidney stone?
What's your favorite soda?
Why do so many people hate fruit cake?
Do you like to play footsie?
Whats your favorite chain restaurant?
Have you ever played a porn video game?
Did you go to Prom or Homecoming dances when you were in high school?
Whats your favorite type of ice cream?
Do you have Hustler TV?
Do you watch Playboy TV?
What's the scariest movie you have ever seen?
Have you ever had an imaginary boyfriend or girlfriend?
Whats your favorite kind of pizza?
Have you ever subscribed to a paid porn site?
What's your favorite sex scene from a movie?
Do you like to have romantic sex?
Have you ever known someone who suffered from sex addiction?
Thread Do you think sex is overrated?
Do you like to kiss when you have sex?
Whats the scariest game you've played?
Do you like speed dating?
What's the most violent game you've played?
Do you like group dating?
Is it possible to have a romantic friendship?
Anybody on here fans of The king Of Queens?
What's your favorite nude scene from a TV show?
What was the first camsite you ever visited?
Who do you think has the best ass in Hollywood?
Still have porn DVDs?
Have you ever known someone who suffered from porn addiction?
Do you like the Final Destination series?
Have you ever known someone with Anorexia or Bulimia?
Have you seen movies that you thought were homophobic?
Have you ever used a prepaid card?
Have you ever had blood sausage?
When was the last time you visited an adult DVD store?
What is your favorite scary urban legend?
What do you think are the best restaurants for dating?
Have you ever read any Fear Street books?
Have you ever had Lutefisk?
Any of you fans of Abby Winters?
Have you ever used Zoosk?
Who do you think has the best boobs in Hollywood?
Do you have relatives that cam?
Ever walked out of a theater on a movie?
Does your significant other watch porn?
Do you have a tablet?
Thread Anybody on here use prepaid Smartphones?
What do you guys think of the 9/11 conspiracy theories?
Whats the worst date you have ever had?
Are any you of fans of Suicide Girls?
How do you make a budget for using a camsite?
is it normal for someone to cry during sex? What is the spiciest food you have ever had?
Anybody on here ever watch porn in public?
Anybody on here ever had Bed Bugs?
Is watching porn cheating?
who is your hollywood crush?
Anybody on here ever had a dating coach?
What are your favorite sexual lubricant products?
Thread Is not having a car a dating deal breaker?
What is the worst movie you have ever seen?
Has anyone on here ever had a partner that was bad in bed?

If someone wanted to they could do a data dump of the forum and take all those questions and answers and put it all into a database and start building profiles on the people that answered the question. Now if you think that is scary think of all the information that you have willfully given to companies such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft and what they know about you, information that a third party could get their hands on.
Be aware that what ever you do on the internet there will always be a trail that leads back to you, even if you use a VPN or more preferably TOR if you are going to do some shady stuff. You just have to mess up once and a person looking for you can find you which is what happened the owners of the darknet market Silk Road. Now for anyone interested in cyber security I suggest that you go and watch the videos from the DEFCON Conference.

 

[Guy]

I was worried about it years BEFORE the FB scandal, and that's why both my FB and Instagram accounts have been long deleted. Nothing about the situation is really new information. I am no longer using Skype personally (model account will be going as soon as I find an alternative I like), and I'm none to pleased with certain other services I use, so I try to limit what information they have access to. There are many other services I will never touch, or have deleted.

Of course, FB and others will continue to track you even without an account. I recommend looking into EFF's Privacy Badger (if you browse through EFF's website you'll also find things like their Surveillance Self-Defense guide) or using Brave as your browser. I prefer to keep even frivolous things like chat with friends encrypted, so I don't text message, but use clients with end-to-end-encryption instead (although there are not many good options at the moment, so it's a trade-ff between features and security). Firefox has recently introduced Facebook Container to segregate your Facebook sessions from the rest of your web browsing.

It's not so much that I'm worried, in my case, as far as my personal life goes, I just don't feel like I particularly WANT to give these companies so much information about myself, and can't approve of it because I know how much it puts other people in actual danger. In my business life, having accounts shut down is a real concern. I don't store anything in the cloud that I don't have my own copy of. I'm transitioning away from Gmail now that my content is more likely to get my accounts shut down, and moving to Protonmail and my own domains (most of my accounts are through my own domains to begin with, so I only need to change how I access them).

I'm considering looking into moving my domains and other hosting, but it's not an immediate concern of mine. Either way, it's never been my preference to give control of my content to any other site, and now with the Free Speech Coalition etc. at least getting some indication that 2257 may not need to apply to performers over 30, it may be possible for me to look harder into self-hosting my content again. I'd like to move back to blogging or micro-blogging on my own territory again as well, as opposed to staying dependent on social media. I've been on Twitter for 11 years, and I'm kind of over it. Privacy concerns aside, it's a toxic environment these days. I would rather pay for things myself vs. effectively sell my personal data.

I closed my FB account in 2015 after I found out they were one of the companies that supported CISA.

 

[n_i_c_u]

I tried facebook when I had a woman interested in me but it always seemed sketchy to me so my profile is nothing and I never go there.

I get wanting to have 'friends' and keeping up with their lives, but, I really don't want to seek anyone out or indulge in someone's life if we have no real relationship. Gosh, to have a bunch of lurkers thinking I am worthy of their attention would be odd and creepy.

I'm an extreme example. I think most people would want others to see the posts of their lives. My apartment is cool and I have things well placed (feng shui) and I eat out at lot at cool places, but I don't think it is worthy of people following me. (plus, you know, I don't think anyone would follow me anyway and it would be weird if they did).

edit to add: I thought facebook was for older people?

 

[MDouble00]

I joined Facebook back in the days when it was still exclusive to college students. I was hesitant to sign up as I didn't have a Myspace page, but drinking in the dorms one night just led to it.

I used it heavily during college, and probably my first couple of years after and as Facebook got more intrusive and changed up its presentation I just stopped using it. Also when they stopped allowing you to check messenger without the app I knew I was definitely done with it.

I don't really have anything of note tied to my page so this latest news hasn't really raised my concerns. However Google and Amazon are concerning me more.

 

[Alyssa Taylor]

I was already concerned about facebook/other social media platforms before it all happened.
I think it was back in 2011 when I was a little concerned but didn't care too much. But then in 2013ish I started actually caring about it when I realized how connected everything was - ie, Ad targeting/learning about how advertising worked, contacts showing up in other places, noticing how much permission certain apps within facebook were asking for when it definitely wasn't relevant to what the app did, etc. I pretty much deleted every bit of social media I had at that point. I never really posted too much or often anyway because I never saw the point in sharing every aspect of my life with people I didn't talk to that often to begin with. The people I'm close with, already knew what I was up to. *shrug*
Side note: I also have been careful as to what to post/not to post anyways because I knew nothing was every *actually* deleted from the internet.

 

[DFT]

I disliked it in 2007 when it became the destroyer of communities. This forum is still alive, and wouldn't be welcomed on FB. Most others are long gone and dead as users shifted over to the new shiny.

Hate FB with a passion. Google's worse on the whole, but like government there's some limited utility to it. FB just takes and destroys.

 

[amababa]

Just found this facebook thread and wanted to remind fellow models to check the "face recognition" settings. Should be not allowed by default but better double check. Settings => Face Recognition
I don't want cam users to post a photo or video of me and then facebook suggests my name ^^

 

[Ambers Troll]

Not worried at all; deleted my Facebook account years ago for breaching a social norm involving allowing a particular type of hate speech to remain on their site.
Privacy is the least concern; manipulating and reinforcing the prejudices of their users is much more concerning. Sadly the design of the site will always fail those using it.

In terms of privacy, exclusivity within social networks is a big part of their business model... the sheltered risk influencers, the exposed risk metadata based propaganda/ marketing.
Facebook isn't interested in individuals. It is in their interest to protect individual privacy as much as is practical without impeding expansion of the users social group.