How Safe Are You Facebooking....

[The Bread Guy]

....or doing any other social networking?  Interesting little tool (takes a bit of work) to assess your risk:
http://socialrisk.weebly.com/index.html

 

[KingKikapu]

I'd also like to add an interesting video that draws a supposed connection to the cia and facebook.  It seems decently researched.  I'm not sure how much you should take note of it, but it does make you wonder what these sites are capable of.  Food for thought.

http://www.albumoftheday.com/facebook/

 

[jollyjacktar]

I never accepted invitations to join facebook as there are some folks in my past I would prefer to remain there.  My fears or paranoia if you will have been verified over the last 6 mos by several folks who let me know they were approached on facebook by my past looking for me. 

 

[4Feathers]

All forms of social networking can cause grief. Note that many employers now check your facebook as part of a screening process. If you do not have the security measures in place then it is open for public scrutiny.  And no the military does not check it.

 

[Yrys]

Facebook ID theft targets 'friends'

 

[4Feathers]

Thanks for the heads-up on that one. Nothing seems to be 100% safe online anymore.

 

[Azizti]

Facebook ID theft targets 'friends'

That's some scary stuff. Thanks for the info! Sending that like to all my family and friends.

 

[Michael OLeary]

And the next surprise on the Facebook front ....  I hope you weren't thinking that you just had to delete those drunken party photos you and your friends had posted before submitting your resume for a real job. 

Facebook's New Terms Of Service: "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever."

You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.

 

[JBG]

....or doing any other social networking?  Interesting little tool (takes a bit of work) to assess your risk:
http://socialrisk.weebly.com/index.html

Their "system" merely states the obvious. The more information, the more risk.

 

[Greymatters]

All forms of social networking can cause grief.

Yes, even personal interactions that dont involve technology can cause grief - this is all part of 'interacting with your environment'...

Note that many employers now check your facebook as part of a screening process.

This is misinformation - it is illegal in both Canada and the US for businesses to refuse hiring someone based on their Facebook account information.  It is illegal for Facebook to be part of any screening process, but information can be used as part of the final interview stage, and only if they can prove that your content can be detrimental to company image or practices.

To be realistic, many individuals involved in the hiring process do it, but its all 'off the record', and yes, businesses will turn down hires if they find something they dont like, but only the stupid and careless ones get caught doing it and taken to court...

If you do not have the security measures in place then it is open for public scrutiny.  And no the military does not check it. 

Good advice, although it brings up a bigger concept - anything you place on a system other than your personal PC or laptop is open to someone else's scrutiny.  Zero risk would be to not interact with anyone and not have an internet connection.  Anything you do after that should be with an awareness of the risks.  Too many people look at the Internet as if it were a public park and that they have the right to wander anywhere they want in it without being bothered...

 

[kratz]

This has been posted about chat forums and other electronic media in the USA, now a Canadian court has decided that Facebook information can be divuldged in court.

From the Toronto Star

Facebook user poked - by the courts
TheStar.com - GTA - Facebook user poked - by the courts

Judge rules man must divulge what he's posted on private social website

March 14, 2009
Tracey Tyler
LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER

Chatting with "friends" on social networking sites could have legal implications and turn Facebook users into their own worst enemies.

In a precedent-setting decision, a Toronto judge has ordered a man suing over injuries from a car accident to answer questions about content on his Facebook page that is off limits to the public.

Lawyers for Janice Roman, the defendant in the lawsuit, believe information posted on John Leduc's private Facebook site – normally accessible only to his approved "friends" – may be relevant to his claim an accident in Lindsay in 2004 lessened his enjoyment of life.

As a result of the ruling by Justice David Brown of Ontario's Superior Court of Justice, Leduc must now submit to cross-examination by Roman's lawyers about what his Facebook page contains.

Brown's Feb. 20 ruling also makes clear that lawyers must now explain to their clients "in appropriate cases" that postings on Facebook or other networking sites – such as MySpace, LinkedIn and even blogs – may be relevant to allegations in a lawsuit, said Tariq Remtulla, a Toronto lawyer who has been following the issue.

This could easily apply in a personal injury case in which a litigant claims his or her quality of life has been affected, Remtulla said.

"If you are alleging that, as a result of an accident, you have not been able to enjoy life the same way and there is a photo taken after the accident showing you skiing or exercising ... that could be relevant," the civil litigation and intellectual property lawyer said in an interview yesterday.

What's on Facebook might also matter in insurance cases or family law cases where there's a dispute over custody, Remtulla suggested. Photos, for example, could reveal something about a parent's living conditions.

Facebook is a free social networking website where users can set up a "personal profile" and post photos, messages, notes, music, videos and information about their interests and activities.

Users can also exercise privacy options that restrict access to authorized "friends."

Leduc chose to limit access to his site, posting only his name and picture on his public profile.

Roman's lawyers found out about his Facebook page in 2007. When they could not get access to it, they went to court, asking that he be ordered to produce its content.

Both sides in a civil lawsuit must produce any documents that could be relevant to the litigation, whether in hard copy or electronic form.

Last year, however, a Superior Court case management master dismissed the request, accusing Roman's lawyers of going on a "fishing expedition."

The master, Ronald Dash, was not prepared to conclude, on the basis of what little information existed on Leduc's public Facebook profile, that what remained hidden from view was relevant.

Dash likened it to a diary or photo album. Just because they exist doesn't mean they contain relevant information, he said.

But Brown took a different view.


"Facebook profiles are not designed to function as diaries; they enable users to construct personal networks or communities of `friends' with whom they can share information about themselves, and on which `friends' can post information about the user," he said.

A court can infer that Leduc's Facebook site "likely contains some content relevant to the issue of how Mr. Leduc has been able to lead his life since the accident," Brown said.

Brown said Leduc can't "hide behind self-set privacy controls" on a website that's all about telling others about one's life.

 

[Greymatters]

Nice find - has significant implications if it doesnt get overturned...

 

[JBoyd]

I once heard/read (I believe it was even on here a long time ago) that an CF applicant was denied acceptance after lying on his drug questionnaire, they apparently caught him lying due to a picture of him smoking marijuana 2 weeks (approx.) before he took signed the drug questionnaire. Whether or not this is true, I think people in generally should watch what information (pictures included) they are putting online.

 

[Yrys]

Social network sites 'monitored'

Social networking sites like Facebook could be monitored by the UK government
under proposals to make them keep details of users' contacts.

The Home Office said it was needed to tackle crime gangs and terrorists who
might use the sites, but said it would not keep the content of conversations.
It is part of a plan to store details of all phone calls, e-mails and websites
visited on a central database.

Civil liberties campaigners have called the proposals a "snoopers' charter".
Tens of millions of people use sites like Facebook, Bebo and MySpace to chat
with friends, but ministers say they have no interest in the content of discussions
- just who people have been talking to.

Rest of article on link

 

[Jarnhamar]

I once heard/read (I believe it was even on here a long time ago) that an CF applicant was denied acceptance after lying on his drug questionnaire, they apparently caught him lying due to a picture of him smoking marijuana 2 weeks (approx.) before he took signed the drug questionnaire. Whether or not this is true, I think people in generally should watch what information (pictures included) they are putting on line.

I believe it. I have a friend who got jacked up by his chain of command in Canada due to a picture of him on facebook in Afghanistan unshaven  :

I've also heard of suggestions for leadership to creep soldiers profiles. Pictures of soldiers doing illegal things like smoking drugs in civilian attire next to pictures of them in uniform, totally agree. But a friend of mine in Toronto got ordered to go through soldiers face book profiles who didn't attend a weekend exercise with the reserves.

 

[JBoyd]

I believe it. I have a friend who got jacked up by his chain of command in Canada due to a picture of him on facebook in Afghanistan unshaven  :

I've also heard of suggestions for leadership to creep soldiers profiles. Pictures of soldiers doing illegal things like smoking drugs in civilian attire next to pictures of them in uniform, totally agree. But a friend of mine in Toronto got ordered to go through soldiers face book profiles who didn't attend a weekend exercise with the reserves.

Although I agree with the use of social networking sites to screen for illegal habits, I found that Facebook has become more of a burden then a blessing lately and I deleted my Facebook account months ago. I know how to contact those I really wish to contact, and I am not comfortable putting pictures of my children on the Internet as it is, let alone on Facebook.

 

[PuckChaser]

It all comes down to "Know your audience". Don't add people you don't/barely know, and keep your privacy settings so tight that only your friends (not friends of friends) can see items. WRT the pers being jacked up by his CoC, privacy settings could have easily solved that problem. Sure, my boss is on my Facebook as a friend, but I know where his line is, and if its not acceptable for my boss to know about it, chances are I shouldn't be posting it up for my family and friends to see either.

 

[firm_believer]

Exactly. I've gone back and forth on this issue, and decided to make my account a positive "business card" of sorts. It can certainly be used to one's advantage.

 

[The_Falcon]

It all comes down to "Know your audience". Don't add people you don't/barely know, and keep your privacy settings so tight that only your friends (not friends of friends) can see items. WRT the pers being jacked up by his CoC, privacy settings could have easily solved that problem. Sure, my boss is on my Facebook as a friend, but I know where his line is, and if its not acceptable for my boss to know about it, chances are I shouldn't be posting it up for my family and friends to see either.

Precisely if people are still posting inappropriate material on their facebook, myspace etc. even after several widely publized incidents of people getting fired, not getting hired for posting inappropriate stuff, then they are morons, and deserve what they get.

Rule 1 don't be a dumbass and do stupid shit in first place, which includes, smoking drugs, dressing like a gang banger, bragging about being a gang banger or doing drugs etc.
Rule 2 If you are going to ignore rule 1, stay the hell away from cameras.
Rule 3 If you are going to ignore rule 1 and 2 don't post those pics on the net.
Rule 4 If you ignore all 3 rules, practice this phrase (or similar ones)  "Hi, Welcome to McDonalds may I take your order?"

 

[JBG]

Although I agree with the use of social networking sites to screen for illegal habits, I found that Facebook has become more of a burden then a blessing lately and I deleted my Facebook account months ago. I know how to contact those I really wish to contact, and I am not comfortable putting pictures of my children on the Internet as it is, let alone on Facebook.

If you use a social networking site and want people to see what your children look like here's a simple suggestion; exchange e-mail addresses and e-mail them. Children's pictures should never be posted online, certainly not coupled with home town information.