Eek! My Friends Can See What I'm Doing!

If you've been on Facebook you've probably noticed Facebook's new real-time friend activity ticker on the right-side of your profile and you may have asked yourself, "Do all my friends see my activity?  The answer to this depends on how you've chosen to manage your privacy settings.

Facebook’s Privacy Crisis: Our Privacy, Our Responsibility

It’s likely that you’ve heard about the battle users have been having with Facebook over their privacy settings.  While frustrating for sure this well-publicized war over how users want to be able to manage their privacy has been a great example of the beauty of social media.   This is an issue born out of the growing pains of social media, but it’s clear that due in large part to social media users have a voice that is finally being heard in volumes like never before.  It brought together people, organizations and legislators to advocate for what users want and what they believe they should be able to rely on.

This new-found voice is great for the individual user and we will all benefit from it.  However, users have responsibilities too.  Here's a question ask yourself.  "Is your voice credible?"   So often we can jump on a bandwagon because it sounds like a good cause yet so often people know very little before taking the leap.  I admit to having done this myself.  While I believe there were a number of reasons why the recent crisis over privacy issues is a worthy one and Facebook did need to step up and make some changes, I have also seen that most Facebook users I work with have done very little to educate themselves about how their information is being shared and use their privacy settings to their advantage and that’s not Facebook’s fault.  So I would add that another beneficial outcome from this crisis is that users might just become interested in understanding Facebook’s privacy settings.

The new privacy settings that will be rolled out over the next few weeks as announced by Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, yesterday.  These new features were announced and promised and now we have to wait to see them.   I don’t know anyone that has seen them available on their profile yet, but I’m hopeful it won’t be too long.  Insight into these changes were presented in Zuckerberg’s video blog yesterday.  So, while you're waiting, be a responsible Facebook user and take a moment to watch the video to learn what’s being rolled out.  Look for three primary changes he discusses:

• One simple master control so you can set who see all of the content you share on Facebook.  You still have the option to control content at a more granular level.


• Reduction in the amount of information that has to be available to everyone in order to use Facebook.


• Simplified the control of whether websites and application can access your information.

I have not seen these new features as they are not yet available for my Facebook account, so I can’t personally speak to how simple they really are.   In a blog by Caroline McCarthy she explains that where previously there were 50 settings that members would have to tweak in order to make all information private; now, it's more like 15.  The number of Facebook "privacy center" pages has dropped from 13 to eight.   In addition, my friends at AllFacebook have taken the time to look at the settings and share what they believe is most important.  They have put together a short guide with what looks like all the information that you need to know.  It includes information on the following:

• You Can Opt Out Of Applications


• You Can Hide Your Friends List


• You Can Hide Your Interests


• Much Information Is Still Public By Default


• Instant Personalization Is Still Opt-Out


• You Can Hide Information From The Past


• You Should Review Your Settings


• Privacy Now Only Takes One Click

I would also add that there is lot of information not required in order to use Facebook and whatever content you put out there is your choice.  So be responsible, and a good model for your children, and take the time to know.

It's great to see Facebook answer a call from the user community and I hope users will become more curious and responsible about how they put information out there.  There are well over 400 million Facebook users worldwide and in the U.S., 1 out 3 people have a Facebook account.  Social media definitely presents a shift on how we think about technology, share and receive information and ultimately how we will live our lives day-to-day, so take control of your presence in what is undoubtedly becoming a very social world.

Your Laptop, Your Latte and Your Privacy.

So you just grabbed that latte and found a little space for yourself in your favorite coffee store to spend some time alone getting caught up on emails, work, Facebook, banking, etc., right?   Maybe wrong, while that may be your intent, you may very well not be alone if you have accessed a Wi-Fi hot spot.   Unfortunately, hackers have become more and more skilled at getting to you.  Through Wi-Fi hot spots hackers use spybots and sniffers to seek out information on your laptop.  Hopefully, you are already utilizing antispam, antivirus and antispyware appliactions.  For a higher level of protection follow these steps to help make sure you are indeed alone!

Step 1:  Disable your laptop's automatic connect feature. Manually select available networks to ensure you are not unintentionally getting on a network that makes you susceptible.

Step 2:  Use a firewall.  A firewall has been installed on your computer if you use Windows Automatic Updates. Unless you turn the firewall off, it runs automatically. You can make your Windows firewall more secure in a public Wi-Fi location by changing your firewall setting to Block All Incoming Connections. Even with that setting, you will be able to view most web sites, check your email and exchange instant messages. For more information about firewalls for Windows click here.  For Mac users, Mac OS X comes with one built in, always has, always will.  Just be sure you've turned it on.

Step 3:  You do not want other users on the network to be able to see the files on your computer. Check the public network's website to see if the network uses encryption to hide users' files. The web site should include a privacy statement. If there is no privacy statement, do not use the network.

Step 4:  Protect yourself from Wi-Fi hackers:

• Do not keying in any passwords, credit card information or other data that you want to remain private.


• Do not check your bank balance in a public place. If it is necessary for you to type the information, do it only on a secure web site.


• Look for https at the beginning of the web site address. The "s" stands for security. Also check for a padlock on the bottom right in the browser toolbar. Using your company's virtual private network (VPN) increases your security.

Step 5:  Watch out for impostor web sites that replicate the Wi-Fi login screen. The source of the evil impostor site could be someone sitting near you.  If you get caught using an impostor, your information goes through their computer before it reaches the Internet.

Step 6:  Be aware of your surroundings.  Prying eyes may be lurking over your shoulder in an effort to steal your information.  It's not being paranoid it's being smart!  Just like you conceal and protect your PIN number from lurking eyes at ATMs., you also need to protect passwords and private information while in a WI-Fi hotspot.

Step 7:  If you are able to accomplish what you need to on a 3g network (e.g. either your phone or using a 3G network card) rather than using public wireless connections.  There is a higher level of security.

Be safe in your solitude!

-M