Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Facebook Spyware?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Facebook Spyware?

    Macworld recently reported that Facebook has "Corrected" a bug that will quietly install an app that will monitor what websites you go to while logged onto Facebook. If you multi-tab or websurf with different websites open, Facebook can see those sites as well.

    That app is no longer being added however

    So who are these victims? Practically all Facebook users unfortunately, whether you're using Mac, PC or Linux.

    Unfortunately there is no way to remove this bug once installed but there is a way to diminish it's usefullness. This an exerpt from the article:

    "It is important to note that opting out of the new 'Instant Personalisation' feature does not stop these apps from being added. Clicking the 'X' will delete the app but it will be added once you return to the website which was deleted. There is no current way of stopping this. Under the 'Edit Settings' link for the added apps there will generally be a tab named 'Additional Permissions' which typically has the option 'Publish recent activity (one line stories) to my wall'. It is currently unchecked by default."
    Last edited by craigwatanabe; May 7, 2010, 10:33 AM.
    Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

  • #2
    Re: Facebook Warning very important!

    It seems like their privacy is getting worse and worse. I haven't had problems with the above, but I also monitor my account really carefully.

    I think MySpace used to have much better privacy settings, less ads, and better customer support. If you asked something, Tom or one of his colleagues would get back to you quickly. Facebook NEVER answers anything- you have to get help from other users. Yeah, loading up everyone's colorful, blinking pages with the music got annoying...but I'd rather have that vs. privacy issues any day. Everyone rushed over to Facebook and ditched MySpace. Tom resigned a little while back, and now MySpace is nothing like it was. I still have my account, but no one is one there anymore. Too bad- it was so much better in its time.

    Can't think of anything creative this time

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Facebook Warning very important!

      I had an account (still have I think) with Myspace. I didn't like the interface with words over graphics, made it hard to read. That's why I left and came to FB when a friend of mine told me all of our high school classmates were on it.
      Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Facebook Warning very important!

        I e'd a friend Craig's post, and he replied 'so what, I don't watch kiddie porn'. Is there anything more to this facebook thing than keeping tabs on what your viewing? That's bad enuf, any more to it?
        https://www.facebook.com/Bobby-Ingan...5875444640256/

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Facebook Warning very important!

          I have mixed emotions about this subject. If I click on a link a FBF has posted, I'm ok with that being trackable. So far, no kiddie porn links! If, while FB is running in the background, I log on to my bank account and FB is able to to grab my password then that's a HUGE problem. The email addy I use on my FB info page is far from being my primary addy. I'm getting a lot of spam at that addy but I really don't care!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Facebook Warning very important!

            Originally posted by tutusue View Post
            I have mixed emotions about this subject. If I click on a link a FBF has posted, I'm ok with that being trackable. So far, no kiddie porn links! If, while FB is running in the background, I log on to my bank account and FB is able to to grab my password then that's a HUGE problem. The email addy I use on my FB info page is far from being my primary addy. I'm getting a lot of spam at that addy but I really don't care!
            And that's precisely the issue here, not so much about abhorent web surfing, but it's when FB can see what you're doing outside of FB that's not a good thing.
            Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Facebook Warning very important!

              Originally posted by craigwatanabe View Post
              And that's precisely the issue here, not so much about abhorent web surfing, but it's when FB can see what you're doing outside of FB that's not a good thing.
              Well, if FB can read my passwords and user names to my financial web sites then, yes indeedy, that's a problem for everyone. If they can only see that I've visited CPB's site, or any other site for that matter, I don't have a problem with that. I just received my latest Consumer Reports mag and noticed on the cover that there's an article about privacy and Facebook! Looking forward to reading it!

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Facebook Warning very important!

                Originally posted by tutusue View Post
                I just received my latest Consumer Reports mag
                Hey, another CR fan! I look at their ratings with a skeptical eye (they blew it on Toyota), but still interesting reading. Currently, CR is the only mag I subscribe to.

                What's Facebook? matapule is motivationally challenged.
                Peace, Love, and Local Grindz

                People who form FIRM opinions with so little knowledge only pretend to be open-minded. They select their facts like food from a buffet. David R. Dow

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Facebook Warning very important!

                  Does Facebook stands for "Eyes without a face, got no human grace?"

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Facebook Warning very important!

                    Originally posted by matapule View Post
                    Hey, another CR fan! I look at their ratings with a skeptical eye (they blew it on Toyota), but still interesting reading. Currently, CR is the only mag I subscribe to.[...]
                    As I understand it, CR buys, anonymously, the cars they test. If they didn't have any of the recent problems with the Toyota(s) they tested, then one can't expect them to report problems they didn't experience! I don't want to minimize the problems with Toyota but I wonder what the percentage of major problems are relative to the number of Toyotas sold.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Facebook Warning very important!

                      Originally posted by tutusue View Post
                      As I understand it, CR buys, anonymously, the cars they test. If they didn't have any of the recent problems with the Toyota(s) they tested, then one can't expect them to report problems they didn't experience! I don't want to minimize the problems with Toyota but I wonder what the percentage of major problems are relative to the number of Toyotas sold.
                      Here on the Big Island, Toyota Customers haven't been reporting any issues or problems associated with the recalls.
                      Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Facebook Warning very important!

                        Originally posted by tutusue View Post
                        Well, if FB can read my passwords and user names to my financial web sites then, yes indeedy, that's a problem for everyone. If they can only see that I've visited CPB's site, or any other site for that matter, I don't have a problem with that.
                        You personally may not have a problem with that. But it still amounts to Facebook having a spyware component to it,.... and that is disturbing. Besides the obvious privacy concerns, the potential for abuse by an unscrupulous FB employee is there.
                        This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Facebook Warning very important!

                          I'm with Frankie's Market on this one. The issue isn't whether you have anything to hide; the issue is whether it's any of FB's business what you're looking at and whether you should be able to decide who does and doesn't have access to that knowledge.

                          This is how I (try to) explain my feelings about this. If you go into a clothing store and find out later that there are video cameras in every fitting room, you are rightfully upset. "What's the big deal," asks the store management, "if you've got nothing to hide?" You point out that your nudity is yours to display or not to display and the store has taken that right from you without your knowledge.

                          This is how some of us feel about our emails, the websites we visit, the books we borrow from the public library, or the contents of our urine. I don't have anything to hide, but I want to decide who knows that stuff about me and who doesn't. I'd actually rather people see my naked body without my knowing about it than know what's in my emails without my knowing about it. You might feel differently, and that's fine, as long as each of us has the opportunity to keep private that which we wish to keep private.
                          But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                          GrouchyTeacher.com

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Facebook Warning very important!

                            For most of us web-browsing is a mundane affair. Check out the online newspapers, go to FB or HT, do our online transactions, check email.

                            For others, it includes checking out porn sites out (if just out of curiosity) or other shady URL's. That is bad but this app could allow others to also see what websites you've been visiting without any knowledge of why you went there!

                            Once a few years ago I wanted to find out more about Ulua so I figured why waste time doing an online search and I'd just try Ulua.com Now I think it's available, however back then it was a website for pornographic material.

                            The point is this app can allow others to see where you've been either intentional or unintentional and if you're not there to explain why you went there, influential people in your life (ie employers, future employers, spouses, pastors, etc) will derive their own explanations and judge you accordingly.

                            This app is completely wrong.
                            Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Facebook Warning very important!

                              http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37137448...ch_and_gadgets

                              Facebook is tweeting their design.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X