As the creator and editor of SNOBS: Social Network for Opportunistic Businesswomen, I’m obviously a fan of socialising and networking online. Yet ironically, I was accused (jokingly) of being a Facebook snob the other day!
It’s because I ignore invitations to join Causes affiliated with charity or awareness groups, like Beyond Blue, Animal Rights or UNICEF. I won’t accept gifts – not even a daffodil plant for my (Lil) Green Patch and to “help fight global warming”.
I recently turned down a very kindly reserved seat at a Blackjack table (with 1500 virtual chips thrown in to get me started) and, at the very height of anti-social and snobbish behavior, I refused to let a friend add my birthday to their MyCalendar.
Why? Because taking part in this kind of friendly, social activity allows the creators of these applications (Causes, Blackjack, MyCalendar etc. are all “applications”) to access my profile information, photos, my friends’ info and “other content that it requires to work”.
This is not an anti-Facebook rant – I love the friend and work-related network I have going on there – but I worry about internet security like a grandma and there are thousands of interactive sites, designed for sharing and socialising, that allow you to put yourself at risk everyday!
Have you ever been prompted to do an address book import to “find your friends” who might already be using the same site/service? Entering your email address and password to conveniently connect is right up there with responding to emails from strangers offering to cut you in on a million-dollar inheritance. At least as far as I can understand it…
I sincerely have my fingers crossed that my limited knowledge is causing me to be more security paranoid than necessary. From what I’ve heard, the big guns (Google, Flickr, Facebook, etc.) who incorporate third-party applications into their range of services, run a very tight ship on policing them for us. Well, you’d hope so, wouldn’t you?
When most of us are as novice as I openly admit to being in regard to all things tech/geek, I’d like to think I’m not being prompted to hand over things I shouldn’t. My word of advice (and the justification that I am not a snob – in the traditional sense of the word) is just to remember that your password/s are private for a reason. Think of them as a set of house or office keys. If you get an extra set cut to hand to a stranger, you could be putting yourself at risk.
An excerpt from Google’s Terms of Service:
6. Your passwords and account security
6.1 You agree and understand that you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of passwords associated with any account you use to access the Services.
6.2 Accordingly, you agree that you will be solely responsible to Google for all activities that occur under your account.
An excerpt from Facebook’s Privacy Policy:
“If you, your friends, or members of your network use any third-party applications developed using the Facebook Platform, those Platform Applications may access and share certain information about you with others in accordance with your privacy settings…
…in addition, third party developers…may also have access to your personal information (excluding your contact information) if you permit Platform Applications to access your data.”
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m with you Carlee…Facebook is full of dodginess… we all heard how Paris Hilton’s account got hacked, other people have had their account hacked with false messages asking for emergency financial help sent to all their contacts, and I’m getting more and more spam emails that tell me someone sent me a message on facebook with a link directing me somewhere else that is definitely NOT facebook. So the number of threats you face are numerous. I think it’s definitely wise to be selective / careful.
(I don’t want to sound alarmist, though – the FB site / service itself is pretty secure, but it’s the peripheral things, like the apps and phishing for passwords) that we really need to watch.)
@Ellery – Re: sounding alarmist
Yeah, I think that’s definitely important. I posted a link to this story on my Facebook profile and then felt worried for a second after that I might freak out some of my friends. To pass on something that a much more technically-educated friend said to me: “There are people in the industry trying to find solutions. The best thing people can do is make the sites that they use aware that they expect better protection.”
It’s a fair call I’d say, especially considering what’s just happened to Britney and Obama. Talk about timely… http://tinyurl.com/7ms2h4