Facebook is once again making more of your data available without your permission.
I was very disappointed to see that I was suddenly opt-ed in to basically sharing everything about me, and allowing my friends to also share this information about me. I never gave my explicit permission to do this. I'm sure it is entirely covered by their Terms and Conditions.
At a minimum, Facebook should have asked users what their preference was, but chose not to do so. This is an extremely deceptive practice, somewhat similar to lying by omission.
Yes, I am aware I can change the settings. I also know most people won't because they don't care, are too lazy, or just do not understand how much they are "sharing".
I also love how giving away your personal information is called "sharing" now. How very, "double-speak" of Facebook. To be fair Facebook aren't the only social networks that shares you information to their partners.
As an individual that still has dreams of privacy I simply do not like where this is going. I was hesitant about joining Facebook to begin with because I could see the depth the data that would allow information seekers to build very detailed profiles on each of us. I even deactivated my Facebook account once before giving in and re-activating it.
So, I'll announce it to the world...
I will be deleting my account on or before 25 May 2010, using Facebook's Delete my Account page.
Deep down I am not at all surprised by the direction Facebook is going with this. My lack of surprise also reminds me that although I was quite sure it would get to this point it was a stupid decision ever choosing to believe it could would have been any different.
Bye bye Facebook. It has been... educational.
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