So, with Facebook and it’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the spotlight right now, it’s a great time to revisit privacy. What exactly is private and what isn’t?
Depends, like most things. So, on social media, in general, you determine who can see your posts. That’s pretty easy. Simply refer to each platform or do a web search and you will find all the details you need to set up your preferred privacy settings. But that doesn’t mean everything you comment on conforms to your profile settings. So, when you see a random question, like ‘What was the first concert you saw?’, know that your comments are not going to be private nor will they all conform to your profile privacy settings. At a minimum, the creator of that post and all of their ‘friends’ will see your post. And your friends of course. So, all of a sudden, a whole lot of people across the country know what your first concert was. Certainly not a big deal, but if you stop and think about how many of those types of posts you comment on, you can gather some decent information about you. What people do with it? That’s never certain. Some are just fun, encourage engagement with a brand, increase followers, or sadly, less innocent reasons. And yes, that includes hackers. So, be careful. Think before you post. Some of those are fun but frankly, I don’t really want to know much about people outside of my approved friend/contact group. So I’ll just post a similar question, or the same one, on my own page. That way I know only those that I have approved can see the post.
That’s just one example.
Have you noticed that after you google something, on subsequent internet browsing pages, you may see an ad for that product? That’s not divine intervention. That’s the power of Google and internet browsers in general. However, the good news is only the web browser and you know what you, personally, have done. Web browsers will gather information in terms of how often that ‘keyword’ search occurs. Based on demand, businesses can purchase ad space on subsequent pages. So, not really magic, but pretty smart technology.
Finally, remember that LONG document of policies that you ‘read’? You know, you are required to click on the box saying ‘I accept the terms, etc.’ Well, as you may have guessed, there is a lot of information in there that outlines exactly what you are ‘approving’ in terms of your content and activity. Now, I only know 1 person who has ever read those agreements. Going in, they knew the consequences, and risks, if they posted anything. As a result, they are very careful about what they do. But, even after a few months, they became more relaxed.
So, remember, you can control some aspects of your privacy. Well, to the extent that you agree on the terms of use. And to the extent that you don’t comment on random questions. And what your friends see and do. Ok, so, you don’t really have all that much control. But you can be smart about it.