My wife is a big Facebooker now, and I made sure she configured the security/privacy settings properly.
But I don’t really use it myself as I don’t like the “worlds colliding” (Seinfeld reference).

people have different subgroups of friends and acquaintances who only partially overlap, if at all. Facebook by contrast tends to pt them all int he same bucket, unless you take on a lot of cumbersome micromanagement.

Fortunately the colleges are starting to include warning incoming freshman about the dangers (to reputation, and yes, to safety) of no using FB etc wisely.

“You mean this app can’t tell the difference between me and my twin sister, even with my sideburns?”

LOL! Are you sure your sister doesn’t have sideburns?

You mean this app can’t tell the difference between me and my twin sister, even with my sideburns?

Doesn’t sound like anything to worry about.

As for anyone photographed without permission, the question then becomes–is what you do in the public eye really “private”? No, just like with the debate over Google Maps streetview, people are just mad that their public antics are discovered by those whom they intended not to know. A good example is the cheating husband whose car was photographed on Google where it shouldn’t have been.

Look, technology hasn’t nearly caught us up to the old days–when your neighbors knew everything about you because they lived near you, knew your children, etc. So if Sarah Smith was seen at John Doe’s house, someone soon reported this to Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Look, I’m tired of the reflexive libertarian response to everything being an “invasion of privacy.” For something to be truly private is for NO ONE ELSE TO SEE IT. If you’re getting trashed at a bar, some guy takes a photo, and it winds up getting tagged online, this is not an invasion of privacy. It’s embarassing, yes, but it’s public conduct.

I’d be happy to explain this further to anyone who isn’t grasping the concept.

This article reminds me of a news report I saw in late ’08 after the mortgage meltdown here in Phoenix. After dozens of small loan originators had gone out of biz here – loan documents started popping up in DUMPSTERS all over the valley.

It broke about a dozen different statutes – but there wasn’t anyone out there enforcing these laws. Hense lots of very personal info (SSN & income info) was out in the open. It made no difference if these loan applicants were in default, in danger of default, or in good standing.

The system just broke down because of these fly by night opperators. And consumers were completely at the mercy of whether the info got destroyed or fell into the hands of criminals who abused them.

Anyone who believes in a constitutional right today when it comes to privacy is a village idiot. That right only exhists in reality to the extent you have money and are vigilant in safegarding(ie spending your money) to protect yourself.

This article is just one more vivid example.

THAT is the bigger issue of concern here.

Many images/contents from personal web-pages are also harvested and tagged by the name you give them by search engines and come up in said search engine’s image searches.

Be informed.

Unendoctrined Newbies.

If a company wants to introduce a new program, fine. But don’t automatically sign someone up then say they can opt “out”. Explain throughly what it is, then give the choice to opt “in” if they want to participate. However, because most businesses choose not to do this, instead preferring the gotcha method and sending people on a trasure hunt to find the opt “out”, we are finding our privacy is going out the window.

This is all much ado about nothing.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by PajamasDeux: PJM: The Coolest (Or Creepiest) Thing on Facebook: New application means you can kiss any semblance of privacy goodbye. http://ow.ly/DjLS...