Privacy+Issues+with+Social+Networking+Sites

= Privacy Issues with Social Networking Sites = toc Social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, have grown to over 750 million users in the last few years. Users, ranging from ten-year old children to sixty-year old seniors, do not always understand and, at times, are unaware of privacy issues that many social networking sites face. The issue of privacy and security with social networking sites and other popular websites such as Google have warranted enough concern that not only do the sites have to take measures to ensure their users' privacy, but as evidenced by the video below, lawmakers also feel the need to intercede.

media type="custom" key="11501728"

In addition to more notable privacy issues pretaining to Facebook, Facebook has also had several instances where its founder, Mark Zuckerburg, and staff have changed the privacy settings unbeknownst to its millions of users. Some users don't particularly care because they either don't use the page often enough or are not that concerned with what others find out about them. For the users that are concerned about their information being sent to unauthorized third party companies, they have formed groups lashing out against Facebook’s inconsiderate actions. There are also a few that have ultimately stopped using Facebook altogether, deleting their pages and reclaiming their peace of mind, privacy and lives.

Because of the ton of information that has to be updated on a daily basis, there is always a chance that someone can hack into a major networking site and cause damage. The damage can be a breach of security, meaning that a hacker has accessed the protected coded language of the social networking site. For instance, the “Samy” virus that attacked MySpace in October 2005 rendered the site useless for few days. While no major damage was done (some affected users had the message “Samy is my hero” on their page), it caused the site to reassess and reanalyze their security settings. No private information was accessed or leaked, but the possibility and the threat had become real. Privacy breaches occur when someone can access unauthorized private information. This can happen aided or unaided by security breaches. Users can lessen the potential harm of privacy and security breaches by exercising caution and selectivity about the information they choose to share.

= =

Other Privacy Issues
= = Recent reports have caused further discontent for Facebook. The site has been accused of tracking its users and other websites they visit, whether logged into Facebook or not. This happens when cookies are placed on the user's browsing history and are tracked by Facebook even when users are no longer logged into the networking site. To lessen the chances of being tracked, users have to either use a separate browser when using Facebook or delete every single cookie from their browsing history containing Facebook. The information about a users' browsing history had been inadvertently sent to Facebook, according to their spokesperson, who reports that the information was and will continue to be deleted immediately. However, many users remain unsatisfied with their history of privacy issues and ultimately, trust issues.

= =