New Facebook security changes aren’t so secure after all; complaint filed with the FTC
Managing a Facebook account has become even more complicated. Will teens have the patience or interest to keep themselves safe online?

The public face on the new Facebook privacy settings that went into effect on Wednesday, December 9 was pitched as a way for members to have more control over their settings and who could access what information. Now two weeks later the reviews aren’t good and founder Jeff Zuckerman has been zapped by his own “privacy” settings. Also, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), plus 10 more organizations, including the American Library Association, have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charging that Facebook’s recent privacy changes violate the federal consumer protection law.

For teens and preteens, it might as well be business as usual, but under the friends, the comments, photos, videos and fan groups, their privacy and their future could be at stake. At the age of believing they are invulnerable, anything posted in their digital world will have a footprint somewhere on the Internet forever.

As with all social networking communities, the potential for abuse, bullying and cyber stalking exists. Kids don’t understand the anonymity of the computer screen opens their world to millions of people who might not have their good intentions in mind.

The new security settings, done correctly, can increase personal security in some respects, but getting there is extremely complicated. Your teens should beware of the default setting, “Everyone.” Unless this is changed your kid’s information is readily available to everyone for any reason. Even setting security blocks at every level, which is a very tedious process, a Facebook presence is still for sale. Your name, profile pictures, friends list, fan pages, gender, geographic region and networks are still out there.

Some changes have been made to tighten security, especially after Zuckerman found that some of his personal pictures and information were made public. Even so, users have reported that after they jumped through the security settings hoops, the settings reverted to “Everyone,” requiring more time to reconfigure.

Facebook admits that user information is available to third party applications, search engines, Internet users and others, without the user’s knowledge or consent, even if the user has not connected with any of the sites. In this respect, personal safety can be at risk. The EPIC complaint relates harassment incidents concerning Facebook users who had posted opinions critical of the Iranian government. A user said that security agents in Tehran arrested his father because of the Facebook postings, and others received threatening e-mails claiming knowledge of the poster’s home address.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has been accused of abusing their users’ privacy and it certainly won’t be the last time either. It is the time to discuss what’s under the hood of your child’s Facebook page, and urge caution in the very vulnerable Internet.

Written by Myra Vandersall

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