Facebook's Small Change that Affects YOUR Privacy

In class we have discussed the issue of privacy in technology, and what you put at risk by having a social network profile, such as Facebook. In an article I found on the Globe and Mail website titled "Facebook's photo-tagging tweaks rig the game against privacy" Facebook's recent interface changes regarding "tagging" procedures were analyzed.

Facebook has changed their simple one click system to untag unflatteringly or inappropriate pictures of yourself that someone has posted into a 3 dialogue box option hassle. Users are able  to one click to hide the photo on their profile but have to go through a three step process to get ride of the tag itself. Now to some, this three step may not seem to be that big of a deal, but in this article it stated "Users follow the path of least resistance." Therefore, by making this process a couple steps harder some people will be deterred away from untagging multiple photos at one time, and are then forced to have photos online of them without prior consent.

If users choose to hide the photo from their profile, Facebook still knows it is you in the picture along with other people who you may or may not know. The issue of privacy on Facebook has been brought up during class discussions, and people debated that they are secure because they choose to have strict privacy settings on their profile. Although, what happens when you have strict privacy settings but your friends who post the pictures do not? Complete strangers are able to view what you look like, what you were doing and who you were with.

Facebook loves tags, and the more internal links, the more people click, the more people spend on the site, the more information they receive about their target groups and the better there are able to advertise to them. Your privacy is not Facebook's main goal, it is to connect people from all over the world, enabling the sharing of information, photos, and day-to-day lives. Facebook has even implemented a "facial-recognition system" in other countries, which recognizes that faces of your friends and does the tagging for you. This has not been implemented in Canada because of the Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, along with other political groups, are concerned about the privacy of the users.

Facebook is a great way to stay connected with friends and family, but it is important to note that just because the law enforcement is not intensely interested in the Facebook's information today, does not mean it wont be tomorrow.