Slashdot Mirror
Facebook A Black Hole For Personal Info
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times has an article on how Facebook is so sticky it is nearly impossible to get loose. While the Web site offers users the option to deactivate their accounts, Facebook servers keep copies of the information in those accounts indefinitely. Many users who have contacted Facebook to request that their accounts be deleted have not succeeded in erasing their records from the network. 'It's like the Hotel California,' said Nipon Das, a user who tried unsuccessfully to delete his account. 'You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.' It took Mr. Das two months and several e-mail exchanges with Facebook's customer service representatives to erase most of his information from the site, which finally occurred after he sent an e-mail threatening legal action. But even after that, a reporter was able to find Mr. Das's empty profile on Facebook and successfully sent him an e-mail message through the network. Facebook's quiet archiving of information from deactivated accounts has increased concerns about the network's potential abuse of private data, especially in the wake of its fumbled Beacon advertising feature."
Cum on if you can't trust Micro$oft with your personal data who can you trust.
Maybe we could create some sort of "Digital Rights Management" software that allows us to control how others use our content...
(^_~) You know, sometimes you guys are real hypocrites. Where are the legions of slashbots shouting "Information wants to be free." If you didn't want to share it with the world, you should have kept it to yourself.