Six million Australians are selling their lives to Facebook

Question Time Live: 18/03/2010

by Tory Maguire

110
What voters really think of Tony Abbott’s religion

by Nic Christensen and Tina Tek

210
Why stop at binning welcome to country and prayers

by Chris Deal

310
Twin revolutions to help troubled suburbs

by Nick Champion

410
Ignore water, ignore women

by Juliet Willetts

510
Let the aircraft noise roar

by Paul Colgan

610
Don’t bring your kids and other supermarket rules

by Lucy Kippist

710
Woman who wants to be world’s fattest reveals more

by Daniela Elser

810
SA’s whispering campaign has Adelaide by the balls

by Tory Shepherd

910
Punch on: Open thread 18/03/10

by Lucy Kippist

1010

19 Aug 04:01pm

Filed under: Facebook, Internet, Privacy, Social Networking, Tech, Technology, Twitter, Web

I am a social media whore. That’s the point of it all right? There’s a lot you can know about me from what music I listen to, what concerts I’ve been to and yes, even occasionally what I just ate.

Logging on your life: Do you know what you're agreeing to?

There’s even a 12 second video somewhere of me dancing in a tutu to What a Feeling by Irene Cara. All of which I chose to share across a number of social networks I belong to that include Blip.fm, Twitter and 12seconds.tv and I’m comfortable with that.

And then there’s Facebook.

The social networking juggernaut is being sued by five of it members for allegedly misleading them about how their personal information was being used. The lawsuit which is filed in the Orange County Superior Court, follows concerns already raised by both the Australian and Canadian privacy commissioners over the site’s privacy policies.

The five claim that Facebook lead them to believe that their information could only be accessed by people they had authorized as friends. Among the plaintiffs are a professional photographer and an actress who claim their work was used and distributed without their permission. Another is a college student who joined the site in 2005 in its original incarnation as a college-student-only site. Their complaint is that Facebook changed its terms of service to broaden reach without properly notifying users. The other two are minors who opened accounts and posted personal information without their parents knowledge or consent. Mum and dad aren’t happy.

Despite the dubious nature of some of the claims - and let’s face it, if you leave your child unattended on a computer them opening a Facebook account should be least of your worries - there are legitimate concerns when it comes to the invasive terms of service. Already this year it was forced to back down on a policy that claimed perpetual ownership over all content loaded on the site.

The larger issue is how much people realise what they agree to when engaging in social networks. Privacy considerations should be made before joining a network not after, because we’ve often signed away our rights by then. Do we consider who may access the information we choose to share?

And in the case of Facebook, what others choose to share about us. Before you post pictures from your yearbooks and proceed to tag everybody in your class, including those that barely liked you, think about whether others might want that information up there. Australia’s privacy commissioner was right to be concerned about the indefinite retention of personal information by Facebook after a user has deactivated their account.

That Facebook would want to own our idle conversations and inane banter should not be taken lightly. As we upload more of our lives online are we aware how much of ourselves we are essentially selling to private enterprise?

The latest comScore figures show that social networking usage in Australia has jumped 29 per cent since last year with 70 per cent of internet users in Australia visiting a social networking site in June - that is three out of four Australians. Facebook. led the way among social media sites with 6 million Australian visitors that month alone, up 95 per cent from the year before.

“Social networking continues to grow in popularity both across Australia and throughout the world,” said Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. “Social networking is now an essential part of peoples’ daily online routine, providing a level of engagement and reach that far exceeds most other content categories. Understanding how to leverage this audience successfully is both a challenge and significant opportunity for most digital marketers today.”

His latest statement is rather telling. I guess we have to ask ourselves, how much we “value” our privacy?

This is a marketplace, after all.

Share post:
Print page:
- Print Article

27 comments

Show oldest | newest first

- Sarah Stokely says:
  
  05:35pm | 19/08/09
  
  I think the headline “Six million Australians are GIVING THEIR INFORMATION away to Facebook” is a lot more accurate.
  
  Reply
- Rob Blatt says:
  
  05:41pm | 19/08/09
  
  For the most part, people have been harvesting as much data as they can about us. I guess the thinking is that they will figure out how much they can make off of it later, but it’s important that they have it right now… or something like that.
  
  Somehow I don’t think they will sell me anything based on the Bejeweled I play against my mother or the family votes we take through Facebook to decide on days to get together. While I don’t care that they are holding all f this useless information, it does bother me that they are keeping it forever.
  
  It’s an easy road to go down to get paranoid about, but the security concerns are real at the same time. It’s difficult to sort out my feeling on it.
  
  Reply
- Ben says:
  
  05:44pm | 19/08/09
  
  People who use facebook need to realise that the default privacy settings are rather lax. If you join a network, ie, “Australia”, most of the people in that network are able to view your profile, not just your “Friends”! By default, if I recall correctly, Friends of Friends are able to fully view your profile.
  
  If people are concerned about their privacy, they need to review the settings. You can even set different privacy settings for different “lists” of friends (which you setup and add friends to).
  
  Better yet, if you do value your privacy, don’t post anything on the internet at all.
  
  Reply
- iansand says:
  
  05:57pm | 19/08/09
  
  If this worries you do not ever enter a contest. I have looked at some of the conditions of entry for photography contests. Every entrant usually gives an irrevocable, exclusive, world wide, perpetual right to use or sell every image entered. It means you cannot use your own photo any more. Photo contests are just an example - you should look at the terms on which you send anything out onto the Internet very carefully.
  
  Reply
- Valerio says:
  
  06:33pm | 19/08/09
  
  This battle for online privacy has been a long time coming and the information we willingly (and unknowingly) provide to this social media giant is at the heart of their plans to dominate the Internet.
  
  OK that may sound fanciful but Facebook do plan to try and take on Google in the Search Engine game thanks to all those friends sharing intimate information about what they love and hate.
  
  Read more on Wired Magazine - this is a great read:
  http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-07/ff_facebookwall
  
  Reply
- Sean Carmody says:
  
  07:37pm | 19/08/09
  
  The pace of development online is currently out-stripping our understanding of and attitude towards privacy. In the end, although people will learn a lot more about the implications for privacy of social networking and other uses of the web, I think that what people expect in terms of privacy will change to. In the dim distant past of the the proverbial village life, no-one had or expected privacy. In the more recent modern world, privacy emerged through the near anonymity of most people and we started to expect it. Cliche though the online global village might be, in the context of privacy it’s probably apt. The era of true privacy is probably over.
  
  Reply
- Gillian says:
  
  11:03pm | 19/08/09
  
  I agree with Ben, if you value your privacy, don’t post anything on the internet. However, as the article points out, this doesn’t stop your friends posting your picture on Facebook and tagging you. I was aware of the changes in the Facebook terms and conditions but I do believe that it was wrong of them to change the terms and conditions without informing everyone.
  
  You need to read the terms and conditions of everything you do very carefully even if as Iansands said, you are entering a competition. I wonder if many Fitness First members also realise that when they sign a standard contract for the gym, Fitness First are able to use their images in any promotional material. I guess they just have to catch you first to take a photo!
  
  I agree Sean, the era of true privacy is probably over.
  
  http://www.30isthenewblack.com
  
  Reply
- Phil says:
  
  12:49am | 20/08/09
  
  “70 per cent of internet users in Australia visiting a social networking site in June - that is three out of four Australians”
  
  Facebook is so powerful they can even do math we can’t understand.
  
  Reply
- davido says:
  
  01:02am | 20/08/09
  
  Personally, I hate facebook. The users are really just sad losers with nothing better to do and a compulsive need to bolster their social lives.
  
  I also feel that if you use facebook at work you should be sacked. Pure and simple. No warnings, call security - you are gone.
  
  Having said that, the potential for misuse of information is enormous and bound to cause problems.
  
  Reply
- Bronwen says:
  
  03:56am | 20/08/09
  
  @Rob Blatt I agree that we need not be paranoid, more a case of alert not alarmed. Unfortunately, if we continue to be blaze about it, this sort of privacy invasion only becomes the norm.
  
  @Ben I’ve had similar experiences and I do believe Facebook is trying to address the issue. Hope they come up with a better default.
  
  @iansand Great points and it certainly raises some questions about copyright which is a whole new debate (and surprisingly one of my other pet topics!) If you send in any of your images to news sites I’d be sure to check what you are waiving in that regard too.
  
  @Phil Blame comScore for the maths and possibly my interpretation - maths is not my strong point - feel free to check the link to verify.
  
  @davido Whoa! I can’t say I agree with you here. Facebook has its place, but that’s not to say we should agree to its draconian TOS. It wouldn’t be anything without us. We deserve some respect!
  
  Reply
- TheFace says:
  
  09:34am | 20/08/09
  
  Anyone who uses the internet for anything can’t expect privacy.Once we put ourselves and our information in the public arena it’s public property.Get real!
  
  Reply
- Chris Grealy says:
  
  11:04am | 20/08/09
  
  My experience is: people who say, “I never knew that, why didn’t anyone tell me, why doesn’t the Government DO something?” just aren’t paying attention. A
  Don’t reward inattention.
  
  Reply
- unruley says:
  
  11:15am | 20/08/09
  
  I wonder how davido feels about people who comment on blogs during work hours…
  
  Reply
- darrenw says:
  
  11:16am | 20/08/09
  
  Bronwen, You might have already seen tech guru, Kevin Kelly writing on a similar topic and his rules for giving up his information (a good read):
  
  http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2006/02/symmetrical_and.php
  
  Kevin Kelly: “To put it personally, I am comfortable with having my movements tracked, my habits databased in aggregate, and my tastes networked IF—BIG IF:
  
  1) I know what information is being collected, where and why, and by whom
  2) I assent to it either implicitly or explicitly, and I am aware of it
  3) I have access to correct it, and can use the data myself
  4) I get some benefit for doing so (recommendations, collaborative filtering, or economic payment)”
  
  Reply
- Just another Gen Y says:
  
  11:39am | 20/08/09
  
  Sad Gen X-ers who have forgotten what it’s like to be the first with the times…..they’re the ones on here all uppity about facebook! I have roughly 500 ‘friends’ on facebook and I’m not naive enough to think that they are all my true friends & adjust what I write and share to reflect this. I think most sensible, intelligent folk that use it, only use it in the way it was intended and that is for light entertainment. Anyone who posts enough shit about themselves to risk identity theft deserves it, in my humble….
  
  Reply
- Bronwen says:
  
  12:23pm | 20/08/09
  
  @Just another Gen Y: OMG you know how to *hurt* me insinuating I’m not up with “the times” and all. Ouch. The openness oh how much of our lives we share online is a generational thing I agree, and like I said I share quite a lot! What I don’t like about Facebook is that it wants to own what I share and is not open about with whom I share that information. I have an open Twitter account I know anyone can access, but at least that is transparent. Why do we need to waver our rights for sub-standard terms of service?
  
  Reply
- Just another Gen Y says:
  
  12:45pm | 20/08/09
  
  @Bronwen - thank you, you took my post with just the right amount of ‘salt’!
  
  I get what you are saying about the level of transparency with facebook and twitter (vastly different and yet facebook seems to be the more popular of the two?) however I still think way back to when computers and more importantly the Internet was first introduced when I was in school & have lived by something a teacher of mine said even back then. Never trust the Internet, not even for a second. I’m sure back then she was implying that we were not to source our assignment information from the Internet but I think the principle can be applied to all usage of the Net.
  
  Reply
- Matthew da Silva says:
  
  12:56pm | 20/08/09
  
  I think we’re in a place that we’ve never really been in before. I think that most people are used to clicking through TOS without reading them, for example when you buy software. There are even terms for using some support sites. If we read the TOS every time we did something online, we’d be getting a lot less done.
  
  It would be interesting if there were some sort of reasonable comparison that could be drawn between this type of ‘forever’ownership of user content and some earlier experience with similar characteristics. The example given above of photo competitions is a good one, but I’m sure there are others. It’s just a matter of some enterprising journalist looking into it. Maybe there’s an academic who has more information in this area.
  
  Because unless we can get our heads around what perpetual ownership really means, we won’t do anything about it. If we want a real protest, there must be groundswell, and that (unfortunately, possibly) means an outcry. A bit tabloic, to be sure, but that’s the nature of debate in the modern public sphere.
  
  Reply
- Chris says:
  
  01:16pm | 20/08/09
  
  My girlfriend won’t take down the photos with me in them from her Fb account. Rather than argue I’ve let it slide. Do I have a right to say “Take them off the internet, I don’t want my image on there where others can see.” or are they hers to put wherever she likes because she took them?
  
  I don’t want to be a jerk and refuse to appear in photos but I may have to start doing that.
  
  Reply
- Just another Gen Y says:
  
  02:58pm | 20/08/09
  
  Chris - yes, you are a jerk. Unless your ‘image’ is your income or career, I would say that is pretty silly to worry that you’ll be exploited in some way. Unless your girlfriend has put photos of you in your gimp suit, that is….
  
  Reply
- Imogen says:
  
  06:28pm | 20/08/09
  
  Thanks Bronwen,
  I think I’ll post a link to this article on my FB account. I think perhaps I’ve already shared too much there, but it does reflect who I am, even if I do somewhat self censor when I’m writing. I do admit I did not know they have perpetual ownership of this content.
  
  @Chris - I’d get a new girlfriend. One who respects your wishes for instance. Respect is something we all ‘should’ have for each other and if someone explicitly asks for their photo to be removed, it would be a sign of respect to remove it, especially if that someone was the same someone who you are most intimate with.
  
  Reply
- Chade says:
  
  06:54pm | 20/08/09
  
  Chris: if you “un-tag” a photo of yourself on Facebook, no-one can re-tag it… while the photo is still there, it won’t come up in people’s news feeds and highlights.
  
  Reply
- Al says:
  
  01:16am | 21/08/09
  
  I cant believe anyone would sign up with their real name
  
  Reply
- Kyaw Soe says:
  
  01:19pm | 14/09/09
  
  FACEBOOK is, in my opinion, a bit like INTERPOL’s Criminal Information System (ICIS). The only difference is ICIS is used to map links between criminals whereas Facebook maps links between (almost) every user.
  
  Facebook, used to map links between any individual in any country, bypassing many national and international jurisdiction, laws and protocols, would be an extremely powerful tool.
  
  Its common knowledge, US Federal Government’s General Services Administration, on behalf of all agencies, negotiated and reached an agreement with Facebook back around March, April 2009. We just do not know what exactly did Facebook agreed to.
  
  One has to form his/hers own opinion on this, but I’d be very careful what I put on Facebook.
  
  Reply
- papachango says:
  
  03:43pm | 14/09/09
  
  A question for Facebook geeks. I’ve noticed if someone ‘tags’ you in a photo, then all of their friends can see not just that picture but the entire album. I can click though the albums of ‘friends of friends’ who I don’t know from a bar of soap that way.
  
  Is there anything in the privacy setting that can stop this? Either not allowing anyone to ‘tag’ me in their or my photos, or if I am ‘tagged’ in my own album it’s still only my friends that can see the pictures, and not the friends of the tagger.
  
  I don’t put many photos up, but it would be interesting to know.
  
  Reply
- May says:
  
  11:31am | 17/09/09
  
  @papachango It depends on their album settings - folk who set their profile to private may not have done so for their photos also (perhaps thinking they don’t have to) , and then once you have a link to one photo, you will be able to see the whole album as a result.
  
  Reply
- bob peters says:
  
  05:48pm | 09/01/10
  
  just flame every blog and use aliases for facebook type accounts.. if they’re not safe and secure then why use them ???
  
  just use them for fun as i do.. and nothing they store as data is remotely accurate thus unusable to them and will also bugger up their statistics or whatever they do with it..
  
  Reply