Ah Facebook again, security problems again?
Not this time, but privacy fears with the new stalker-esque features for tracking changes to people’s pages.
Millions of people have flocked to social networking sites to post information about themselves and share it with friends.
Now Facebook, one of the most popular, is facing a user backlash over a recent redesign that some critics say goes too far in exposing their lives.
Since Tuesday, tens of thousands of Facebook’s estimated 9 million users have revolted against newly added News Feeds and Mini-Feed features that track and publish changes on the site. For example, the feeds notify users when their friends post new photos.
Personally I think they are over-reacting a little.
The debate over privacy in the social networking sphere is taking place on relatively new ground. When it comes to sharing personal data, how much is too much? After all, people participate in social networking communities because they want to share personal information about their lives with their friends.
Bloggers publishing personal stories with RSS feeds, Flickr users posting public photos and Facebook users filling out a profile have all consciously chosen a certain level of transparency. Online communities encourage open sharing, so, even though privacy controls are in place for most of these tools, many users publish publicly anyway.
The liabilities of Facebook publicity already include brushes with law enforcement and underage drinking busts on campuses. Now, when a Facebook user elects to not keep their information to themselves, they will be forced think a little harder about who’s watching.
Nothing has changed really, with wget or something you could have tracked the same info anyway..recursive downloads of changes, run diff or something, bingo.
Ah well, ignorance leads to fear…fear leads to anger…anger leads to hate…hate leads to? The Darkside ;)
Source: Wired