Ron Zayac

Facebook, the social media empire that computer consultants and privacy experts love to hate has, again, modified it's privacy policy.

Facebook has decided to move more parts of a user's profile into the public and indexable space.  Newly added are your 'fan' list (things you have become a fan of), your education and work histories and all of your listed interests.

This is another indication of how social media, while powerful, must be treated with suspicion or at least respect.  The information that you entrust to these companies can become public without your consent.  Facebook can (and does) change it's privacy policy, without notice, at any time, exposing information to search engines and the public, that you thought was private.  I'm not just talking about 'secret stuff' you only share with friends but perhaps information that you may not want a prospective (or current) boss to know about.  Information that can help with 'social engineering' attacks leading to identity theft--or just get you fired.

A great rule of thumb: Don't share anything online that you wouldn't share with your grandma!

Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch.  Something has to pay for all of the servers and Internet connections.  That something is your information, sold to advertisers.  Post accordingly.