seems to be coming true in regards to Facebook (by no means are they the only ones getting this attention, and, to be fair, their current privacy policy is on the home page at the very bottom) and other social networking sites. Just read the tech section for a newspaper (yes, they still are made), or check the on-line news sites. There, one can read about issues with privacy policies many times over. I just have had a feeling that while it would be fair to share certain information, listed before a person joins one of these, now, macro sites, in return for the services enumerated by the site and its Privacy Policy. With that agreement comes a contract, for person A says I will share this information for you to sell and use to bring in revenue, in return for these services. The lines that always bothered me and always kept me away were the one that were kind of nebulous about changing the privacy policy. And, that is assuming the site had addressed the issue of changing the policy in the original Privacy Policy.
At the very least, the member, should be able to opt out, quite the service, and have their information discarded as they are no longer receiving any goods or services for the use of that information. Also, the information should only be allowed to be used for the original purposes as stated when the person joined the site and agreed to its privacy policy.
Over and over again we read about abuses with the information, the last minute changes in how it will be used and on and on.
Yes, making money on the Web can be a tough thing. No, it is a touch thing. And, for certain services, I like many people, will divulge certain information. First, I see how it will be used and second I see what information they want. If I can't make both of those things work together I do not join the service. Thus far, my life has been just fine. Heck, there are even sites that let you build your own social network (
http://www.socialgo.com/) for free or, more realistically one might want to move to one of the tiers which do cost a decent amount of money, but, the services seem very well laid out, you control what information people need to give up to join and there you have it, your own group and control over the information.
All too many people feel that, "oh heck, they could find that out about me anyway." Yes, maybe they could. But, it would be expensive and they would not know how accurate the information is at that time. So, what you share is one of the absolute items you must review and then ask others if they feel that giving up that much information to be used in the manner the site says seems like a fair trade.
For some sites, I bet there is no problem, but for a number of others, they are out to not only make the big money (which in and of itself is not wrong), but they do not see the members of their site as customers, only their lackeys giving up a very valuable commodity - your information.
Be careful. Please, don't think you know it all. Ask your parents or another adult or a good friend and decide what it would be like if everyone knew that information. If all seems fine, go ahead and have fun, but always keep checking the Privacy Policy of the site to see if any changes have taken place. I use a free site, if one wants that service, or they have a paid tier, very reasonable, and it reminds me to check the privacy policies on a number of social sites. Once the information is out there, well, it is gone and it will be used and sold and on and on.
But, remember this, you won't be updating the information, if you felt comfortable giving it in the first place, you should be fine. There is the rub, you, we all, have to be very strict with what we feel is appropriate information. Sure, we want the sites to be successful, it is a form of bartering. But, many of the sites change the rules of the barter after you are on board. Just not a good way to do business, so show them that.
