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Facebook Privacy: Two Opposing Takes

Maybe 'privacy' is evolving; or this is just about making money

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 12, 2010 11:08 AM CST

(Newser) – Facebook's decision to make users' private data public is still reverberating, and Michael Arrington wishes the "Luddites" opposed to the development would just be quiet and face up to a modern reality: "Privacy is already really, really dead." Big companies already know the intimate details of our lives via credit cards, GPS devices, cell phones, etc. "We don’t really care about privacy anymore," he writes at TechCrunch. "And Facebook is just giving us exactly what we want."

Mark Zuckerberg himself espouses a similar view, arguing that our comfort with sharing personal information is an evolving social norm. Derek Thompson isn't buying any of it at the Atlantic. This is just about money. "Like a Middle Eastern country sitting on top of an ocean of oil, Facebook feels a business-driven pressure to let outsiders (ad companies) drill deep into their reserves, so they can shove Coldplay tickets in front of Coldplay fans and job listings in front of college seniors, and so forth." Facebook shouldn't try to play it off as anything else.

Facebook privacy settings are raising a new debate about how much of our lives should be up for public viewing.
Facebook privacy settings are raising a new debate about how much of our lives should be up for public viewing.   (AP Photo/Russel A. Daniels)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
Yourself
Jan 12, 2010 7:11 AM CST
deleting my facebook account has been one of the best things possible... and i dont miss it one bit!
InAwe
Jan 12, 2010 5:48 AM CST
The days of privacy, as we knew it, might be gone but that doesn't mean it's impossible to protect some of your information. Sure, Facebook has changed their protocol but learn how to change your account settings on the site and protect yourself. If you're not willing to inform, educate and adapt, then delete your profile. The same goes for any online profile, account or identity. Educate yourself and take it upon your shoulders to protect your privacy, or what's left of it. Don't expect any company to hold that sacred anymore.
ProfessorCold
Jan 12, 2010 5:41 AM CST
These settings also make it way easier for creepers to do what they do best. While the obvious solution is to take your stuff off or change back your privacy settings, lots of dumb adolescents put their stuff up regardless of what their parents say. Thus, Facebook is at least a little responsible for these creepers getting what they want.

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