Facebook’s privacy horror stories don’t seem to be coming to an end any time soon. In fact, it’s just went from bad to worse yesterday when a security consultant named Rob Bowes released a file containing a list of more than 170 million Facebook users and the Web address of their profile page on a file-sharing site named ‘Pirate Bay’.
I’ve always been a Twitter fanboy over Facebook because it keeps things simple – whether it’s privacy, connections or updates. Even though Facebook has made repeated attempts to sort out its privacy woes, it’s still way too cryptic and confusing for newbies. So, what if you are amongst those 100 million Facebook users? Should you be worried? What are the implications on your Facebook account? Let’s find out.
Your Facebook account is not hacked, Period.
First things first, be rest assured that your Facebook account is safe and it hasn’t been hacked. I’ve come across users who experience panic attacks whenever they hear about a privacy breach.
What happens to my Facebook Account now?
Well, the answer is nothing. However, this should serve as a final reminder to update your privacy settings and set them right for good. What Ron Bowes did is just a piece of smart programming combined with ignorance of 100 million Facebook users. Ron Bowes, a security consultant at Skull Security, wrote a script to scan the user listing in Facebook’s open-access directory and compiled all the available user profile details into a single text file. The information includes users’ birthdays, addresses, phone numbers and other personal details.
If you are in that list, you have no one but yourselves to be blamed.
Broader Implications
It’s scary to have your date of birth and address being exposed to millions of hackers on the internet. Identity thefts, credit card frauds and stalking incidents are quiet common on the internet these days. Should you worry? Yes.
Facebook leaves it up to you to decide how much of your personal information you want to reveal to the public. If you don’t understand what that means, you shouldn’t be on Facebook.
Corrective Action
The first and foremost corrective action is to ensure that only your friends can access your personal details. I recommend avoid using the ‘Everyone’ option and use custom options wherever necessary. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. If your profile was searchable, there’s a good chance that your details are in the file uploaded on Pirate Bay.
Unless you signed up on Facebook hoping to build a large fan following, I’d advise modifying your settings so that you aren’t listed in Facebook’s open access directory. To do so, select ‘Privacy Settings’ under Account and then edit the ‘Public Search’ option to uncheck the ‘Enable public search’ box.
Facebook’s Stance
Looks like Facebook is determined not to learn from its past mistakes. Instead of taking any corrective measures at its end, the company says that the details are already public information so there’s no reason to worry. If you can view the details on Facebook, you can view them anywhere else as well. IMO, that’s pure bull.
On the contrary, Facebook says that it is investigating the methods used to collect and publish users’ details. In fact, it’s contemplating legal action against Skull Security. I don’t think Facebook is going to change its attitude towards privacy concerns, so it’s high time that you educate yourself about it or else it might be too late!
Never tell people what they don’t need to know – Facebook is no exception to that rule!
Beware, Twitter gives out your info to mylife.com (they give out the Twitter nickname associated with your email). Your privacy can still be breached evven if you use a fake name at Twitter because if you enter your email address at mylife.com ( and who knows how many other similar sites) your Twitter name will appear with your personal info on the mylife.com site that ANYONE (even those who only have free accounts at mylife.com) can get.
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