There's been quite a dust-up regarding Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s recent proclamation that social norms on privacy have changed, and that Facebook is merely reacting to these shifting norms. Lots has already been said about Zuckerberg's remarks, so I'm only going to add three thoughts to the conversation: What Zuckerberg said isn't surprising, it isn't new, and it isn't true...
Tag: Facebook
NPR: Groups Complain To FTC About Facebook Changes
A story today on NPR's Morning Edition news program focused on the controversy surrounding Facebook’s recent privacy upgrade downgrade: "Groups Complain To FTC About Facebook Changes" My discussion with the reporter, Martin Kaste, covered most of the issues raised in…
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Facebook Provides Some Control of Friends List Visibility, But Hides It
One of the most controversial aspects of Facebook’s recent privacy upgrade downgrade has been the removal of the privacy setting allowing users to limit the visibility of their list of friends. Perhaps more than any other set of information on…
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Facebook’s Privacy Upgrade is a Downgrade for User Privacy
Recently I’ve commented on Facebook’s new privacy paradigm, and went so far to applaud Facebook’s promise to give users more specific control over individual posts, as well as the promise to simply its privacy settings. My enthusiasm was tempered with…
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Facebook’s New Privacy Settings to Launch Today
Last week I commented on Facebook’s new privacy paradigm, which they said would launch “in the next couple of weeks”. Seems that process is starting today. Here is Facebook’s spin: Facebook Asks More Than 350 Million Users Around the World…
Facebook’s New Privacy Paradigm: Boon or Bust?
Facebook recently announced significant changes to how information will flow on the social network, impacting users' privacy in both positive and (potentially) negative ways. First, the good news: as hinted back in June, Facebook will be implementing a new feature…
How to Adjust your Facebook Privacy Settings – 2009 Edition
Last year, as part of Milwaukee's 2008 OneWebDay celebration, I posted guidelines to help users adjust their Facebook privacy settings. This has been one of the most visited pages on my blog. Now that we're getting ready for the 2009…
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The Ethicist Gets it Right with “A Facebook Teaching Moment”
I'm a big fan of the New York Times Magazine's weekly column, The Ethicist. I'm not a big fan, however, of the column's namesake, Randy Cohen. He is often much too consequentialist for my liking, too simplistic is his ethical…
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Draft Paper: “But the Data is Already Public”: On the Ethics of Research in Facebook
[UPDATE: The final paper has been published in Ethics and Information Technology]Next week I will be attending the 8th International Conference of Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry in Corfu, Greece, where I will be presenting an early draft of a paper…
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The Laws of Social Networking: Promote Open Flows of Information, Make Privacy Hard
Here is my First Law of Social Networking: social networking sites are incentivized to promote the open and unfettered flow of mountains of personal information. Social networks' ability to make money through contextual and/or behavioral-targeted advertising is dependent on users…
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