01.26.11
Gemini version available ♊︎Should Techrights Watch Facebook?
Summary: Some quick news/notes about Facebook and a question to readers
Facebook is said to be covered by the press more than Microsoft these days (although these two companies are not separable). It is often covered negatively because of its controversial behaviour (for instance, Facebook is censoring dissent). It was recently revealed that Facebook starts spreading people’s telephone numbers around (and this sort of data is possibly being sold to other companies), so German regulators stepped in and one reader suggested that we share this new article which claims that “Facebook is being overrun by scam surveys, fake applications and bum links, according a new report by an Internet security firm. And it’s getting worse by the day as scammers figure out clever new ways to trick unsuspecting users.”
People who value their freedom and safety keep their computing under their control. We wish to ask readers if they think that Techrights should watch and cover Facebook more than it already does. █
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walterbyrd said,
January 27, 2011 at 9:49 am
IMO: Facebook is another arm of Microsoft. I think Microsoft was the first major investor in facebook. I think facebook is also tied to bing. I find it interesting that MS is running a smear campaign against google, citing privacy issues, while, at the same time, MS is very much in bed with facebook. I think facebook privacy issues are much worse than any privacy issues with google.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
January 27th, 2011 at 10:00 am
Facebook’s ringleader has been a close friend of Microsoft’s top guns for quite a few years. It’s not reported much. Now, consider what goes on with Bartz in Yahoo.
twitter Reply:
January 28th, 2011 at 12:16 am
The privacy issues of running non free software like Windows continue to override concerns about Facebook or Google. Windows has always indexed information of interest, such as what songs you listen to, what programs you run and what websites you visit. Some non free cell phones have keyloggers large enough to capture everything you type for a year or so. Vista introduced an encrypted communication between every computer in the world and Microsoft. Basically, Microsoft is able to snoop on everything people do, Facebook, Google, email and private diary. Anyone who cares about privacy and also wants to communicate should use nothing but free software.
That being said, I agree that Facebook is a larger problem than Google is. Facebook’s only purpose is to spy on people and most of the benefits come from being on a network. They have invited people to share things that should not be shared with third parties and they routinely betray users to employers, advertisers and others who pay. Google ,on the other hand, offers a service or two that independent value, indexing information, maps, email service etc, all following sane standards. Google’s social networks and groups are mostly there to facilitate public publishing and sharing, rather than the exchange of private information. I can send encrypted mail through Google’s servers, so privacy is possible through them. Google does not need to spy to survive. Facebook is inherently evil, as is Microsoft, Google is not.