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MySpace To Sell User Data
OnlyJedi writes "Hot on the news of Netflix canceling its latest contest over privacy concerns, news has spread that MySpace is going in the opposite direction. Apparently, the one-time leading social network is now selling user data to third party collection firms. From the article, the data that InfoChimps has listed includes 'user playlists, mood updates, mobile updates, photos, vents, reviews, blog posts, names and zipcodes.' InfoChimps is a reseller that deals with individuals and groups, from academic researchers to marketers and industry analysts. So if you're worried about your data on MySpace being sold off to anybody with a few hundred dollars, now's the time to delete that little-used account."
The only way I can think of removing your information is to edit your profile with random information that makes sense but is generic. Replace all critical information such as addresses or phone numbers with fake addresses. Remove all photos and just have a few generic stock photos. The idea is to make the account look legit but with no information that can be used against you.
This will correct the issue of current viewable information. Next you need to lock down your profile with as much security as possible, disable messages, turn on approvals for anything, lock it down like Fort Knox so it stays static as long as possible.
Now comes the part you have no control over. You need to let the account sit for months if not years. Over time they (Myspace or Facebook) will need to purge older backups and can only keep current relevant information. So now the older backups are over-written and being written into the system is your current BS profile, but this can take months to years to do and that depends on how much Myspace/Facebook or any social site is willing to retain.
Whatever you do, don't just delete the account or use their automated deletion system cause that's not really doing the job you want. That most likely puts it into a special repository for recoveries in case you want to come back.
The only way I can think of removing your information is to edit your profile with random information that makes sense but is generic.
How about adding some details about the people running MySpace in your profile?
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
It's times like this I'm glad I'm with Facebook!
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
Well, quite. Any entity that shouldn't be sending me anything but insists on contact details anyway gets postmaster@foo.com, and the snail and phone details from whois foo.com
Dude, stop it! I'm so tired of all the spam you generate for my servers!! Just, please, STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!