http://www.technorth.ca/blog/blog Tech North Solutions maintains a blog discussing important IT related topics. basesyndication http://www.technorth.ca/logo.png http://www.technorth.ca/blog/blog http://www.technorth.ca/blog/blog/2010/04/26/2010-04-25 http://www.technorth.ca/blog/blog/2010/04/26/2010-04-25 <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td>&nbsp;<img alt="beware facebook" width="128" height="108" src="http://www.technorth.ca/blog/blog/topic_images/facebook-blog.jpg/image_thumb" /></td> <td>Facebook, the social media empire that computer consultants and privacy experts love to hate has, again, <a href="http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/04/facebook-further-reduces-control-over-personal-information">modified it's privacy policy</a>.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Facebook has decided to move more parts of a user's profile into the public and indexable space. &nbsp;Newly added are your 'fan' list (things you have become a fan of), your education and work histories and all of your listed interests.</p> <p>This is another indication of how social media, while powerful, must be treated with suspicion or at least respect. &nbsp;The information that you entrust to these companies can become public without your consent. &nbsp;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. &nbsp;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. &nbsp;Information that can help with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(security)">'social engineering'</a> attacks leading to identity theft--or just <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10172931-71.html">get</a> <a href="http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Office/Story/A1Story20091221-187216.html">you</a> <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/employment/news/article.cfm?c_id=11&amp;objectid=10533539">fired</a>.</p> <pre> A great rule of thumb: <a href="http://news.globaltv.com/story.html?id=2071551">Don't share</a> anything online that you wouldn't share with your grandma!</pre> <p>Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch. &nbsp;Something has to pay for all of the servers and Internet connections. &nbsp;That something is your information, sold to advertisers. &nbsp;Post accordingly.</p> Ron Zayac Social Media Security Facebook Privacy Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:18:42 -0400