Since Facebook changed the way you "like" stuff, and made user info available on community pages, and generally put a lot more info out there - including making it easier to let people know what you like on the Internet - there's been an outcry about privacy concerns. But Facebook promotes this stuff before they do it - they talk about what they're thinking about doing, and hundreds or thousands of writers put stuff about it all over the Internet and in newspapers. Unless you live in a box, you should have heard something.
Regardless, hit the privacy controls and change stuff. You can tell FB exactly what you want out there. Be proactive and take care of your shit. Seriously - if you didn't want it out there, why did you post it ON THE INTERNET?!?
The New York Times counted everything for you. Frankly, the number of options is impressive:
But apparently, the Financial Times doesn't know how the Internet works.
FYI - everything you do online is recorded and trackable. EVERYTHING. Every single website you go to leaves a cookie on your computer so that it will load faster. Every search you do, not just at Google but at whatever search engine you dig, is recorded to offer you more ads you might be interested in and improve the results you get when you search. This isn't new. It's just that now, you're telling a website what movies you like, and where you hang out, and what your politics are, and whether you prefer blondes or brunettes, and what websites you go to... And that website is selling ads and services to businesses based on the information you tell it so that it can provide a free service that we've all become obsessed with.
There is no conspiracy. It's not Orwellian. You have entered information into a website that tells you up front - and in the press - that it will use that info to make money off of you. Come on people, pay a little more attention and take some responsibility for what you're doing. Maybe that's asking too much in modern America (and the world). In which case, you get what you deserve.
No comments:
Post a Comment