It pays NOT to be on FACEBOOK

[BrianV]

I've been on the internet since before they called it the internet and never thought for a second any of it was private, protected or secure.

You've been on the Internet since before 1982? That's a long time in Internet time!

There really wasn't as much thought of "privacy" on the Internet back then. Most of the connected hosts were at universities and government facilities, and I bet nobody ever considered publishing anything on the network that they wouldn't want to become public information. There certainly weren't any blogs or Facebooks or Twitters.

(Of course, one could possibly say it was called the Internet as far back as 1974, when the Internet Transmission Control Program was specified, but in that case "Internet" was short for "Internetworking" and was an adjective, not a noun.)

I remember it being called the Arpanet. Using "TIPS". PDP 11/34 computers, 56KBit/s backbone. I "telecommuted" to work in DC when going to school in 1980. Paid my way through college by re-writing atomic structure modeling code to run on parallel computers. Never worried about putting it over the network back then. Some of the thoughts to "privacy" were in the (Around) 1979 RFCs for IP and TCP. Like put the security classification in the header of each packet. Then systems that were not cleared for the information would not read it. Not a well thought out plan.

Made me Look.

http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc761.html

If only Section 3.6 had been fully implemented in a reliable way.

 

[usayit]

I use facebook to keep in touch with friends and family that are rarely get to visit. I have absolutely nothing to hide but its an issue of mutual respect.

If a company asked for it during an interview, I would immediately express my concern. If they pressed, I would seriously consider walk out. That isn't the type of company you want to work for.... one that doesn't treat employees with respect. It will only go downhill once you start drawing paychecks from them. If you stick with them, it better be worth it in the short term and have an exit strategy.

I have not heard too much about this problem. I tend to believe the media blows most things out of proportion which sends a false sense of urgency, concern, and frequency. I have heard stories that speak to a decline in employer and employee relationships the past 10 years. That I am 100% certain is a result of the increased unemployment in certain industries.

 

[480sparky40 39]

........ I also do not use my real name on Internet forums.............

I find it incredible that some people routinely use either their real name or their email address for an internet presence.

 

[amolitor]

I use my real name and email for my internet presence, and have for, um, 24 years so far. Seems to be working out ok so far!

 

[amolitor]

I've been on the internet since before they called it the internet and never thought for a second any of it was private, protected or secure.

You've been on the Internet since before 1982? That's a long time in Internet time!

...........

I still have emails from 1969.........

That looks suspiciously like Epoch Time 0 (Jan 1, 1970, 00:00, UTC) expressed as Central Standard Time.

 

[KenC]

mjhoward hit the nail on the head for me back on page 3. It's too much of a security risk, both from hacking and burglary.

 

[480sparky40 39]

That looks suspiciously like Epoch Time 0 (Jan 1, 1970, 00:00, UTC) expressed as Central Standard Time.

Explain how received it last week.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

mjhoward hit the nail on the head for me back on page 3. It's too much of a security risk, both from hacking and burglary.

Burglars are often friends, or friends of friends. Not.
You might want to "block" all your neighbors then too. They see your comings and goings and often talk about it with others.
My neighbor across the street waited by my back door at 7:30 in the morning to give me tomatos. :shock: scared the **** out of me.
He knows our schedule. He has shared with other neighbors when we have been on vacation.
I am particularly vague about what I do for a living, so nobody in my neighborhood(questionable) knows I am a jeweler.
When I buy things like big screen TV's, I bring them into the house at night, and cut up the cardboard boxes, so as few people as possible know what I have to steal.

I am far less concerned what I put on facebook, than what I let my neighbors know.

It's just as easy for a buglar to case your house, and learn your schedule.

I tire of people being so concerned about facebook privacy, while they neglect every other aspect of thier life real and internet.
You have far more control over your facebook page.

 

[flow]

No one "asks" to visit your Facebook. They can check whatever you have set to Public as soon as they have your name. They have no right to your passwords or any information that you've posted more privately. Law enforcement may be different - they can always get a warrant - but a private business cannot. I would not give my password out to anyone, if they were so brazen as to ask for it.
Anyway, Bitter Jeweler said it - FB security is not what I'm going to worry about when we've had the cops come through asking everyone in our row of houses to watch out for 'suspicious activity' in the alley behind us.

 

[amolitor]

People ascribe a rather remarkable degree of organizational ability to burglars.

Not to say that it doesn't happen, I'm sure that facebook plays a role in some number of burglaries a year. It's just that there are many other risks in life that are much greater and to which, therefore, one ought to be more attentive. A meaningful way to manage risk, for instance, is to drive fewer miles.

 

[KenC]

mjhoward hit the nail on the head for me back on page 3. It's too much of a security risk, both from hacking and burglary.

Burglars are often friends, or friends of friends. Not.
You might want to "block" all your neighbors then too. They see your comings and goings and often talk about it with others.
My neighbor across the street waited by my back door at 7:30 in the morning to give me tomatos. :shock: scared the **** out of me.
He knows our schedule. He has shared with other neighbors when we have been on vacation.
I am particularly vague about what I do for a living, so nobody in my neighborhood(questionable) knows I am a jeweler.
When I buy things like big screen TV's, I bring them into the house at night, and cut up the cardboard boxes, so as few people as possible know what I have to steal.

I am far less concerned what I put on facebook, than what I let my neighbors know.

It's just as easy for a buglar to case your house, and learn your schedule.

I tire of people being so concerned about facebook privacy, while they neglect every other aspect of thier life real and internet.
You have far more control over your facebook page.

I don't disagree with anything you've said. I don't neglect the other aspects of security you mention, especially what I recycle without shredding, neighbors, talking about work, etc. I just don't trust the privacy settings online and would rather not add another risk.

 

[Tee]

No one "asks" to visit your Facebook. They can check whatever you have set to Public as soon as they have your name. They have no right to your passwords or any information that you've posted more privately.

According to the many articles in business mags and newspapers, they ARE asking for more than what they can see as a public viewer. Google "shoulder surfing Facebook" and read for yourself. I asked my brother who works for a Fortune 500 if they do that and he said they don't (although it was brought to the table) but a subcontracting company they do business with does. That company has the person log in and show them their page. They do not check messages, however. A person's Facebook page when they are logged in can look dramatically different than what you choose to display publicly.

 

[ceejtank]

They can ask for your password. You can say no. They can not offer you a job for any reason.

Hope this clears it all up for you (I work for one of the largest investment companies in the world).

 

[nmoody]

........ I also do not use my real name on Internet forums.............

I find it incredible that some people routinely use either their real name or their email address for an internet presence.

It depends on the purpose of the place that I sign up for. Here for instance I used real because its not often that photography has a negative view(oh im punny!). Now with things like video games, social media, and similar I use an alias.

I also believe if someone wants your name they can get it no matter how hard you try to hide it. You can only just curb the typical person from knowing it.

 

[runnah]

People ascribe a rather remarkable degree of organizational ability to burglars.

Some are quite smart, but most are junkies looking for a tv to sell to get a fix.

The top 3 best anti-burgling methods are as follows.

1. Lock your doors
2. Leave a light on.
3. Don't make your house a target. I.e. leaving flat screen boxes on the curb, have a giant tv by the window, leave garage door open etc...

Driving down any street will tell you more about which house to rob than weeks on facebook.