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Open Source Utilities For Facebook Privacy

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the can-you-see-me-now dept.

dward90 writes "Two online projects will scan and edit Facebook privacy settings for maximum protection: ReclaimPrivacy (reclaimprivacy.org) and SaveFace (untangle.com). The article says: 'Several new applications have launched this week that are designed to easily reset a Facebook member's privacy settings, following new changes from the company that make a sizable chunk of profile content public by default when it was once kept under lock and key.'"

6 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. Is It Just Me ... by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... or is it just a bad idea to be able to change privacy settings via Facebook's API? Couldn't some other site/service "open the flood gates" instead of locking them down?

    1. Re:Is It Just Me ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      In your rush to get first post, you failed to read the article and have now asked a question that you wouldn't need to ask. Had you spent 30 seconds scanning any one of the links instead of typing your post, you would have saved yourself from looking like an idiot.

      Better luck next time.

  2. It's really not that difficult. by UncHellMatt · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I work in IT for a small police department, and recently have begun doing presentations for parents on Facebook and general online privacy, what steps can be taken and how to watch out for warning signs of problems. I'd say at least half the parents I talk to are completely unaware of what information is freely available online about their kids, if allowed to use such a site, or how much information their kids are making available online.

    It only takes about 20 minutes to educate a neophyte, if they're willing to learn, how to lock down privacy on Facebook.... He said with a pained expression. One thing which never ceases to boggle my mind is the number of parents (and people in general) who really don't understand and don't CARE what information is out there, or what it can mean. ID theft, home intrusion, stalking, all that pretty much is "someone else's problem", producing enough SEP power to cloak an average sized nation.

    While products like this are certainly useful, the bigger issue is education. If you're aware of the changes to FB and the like, setting security takes all of a minute. If you're unaware and someone tells you, and if you're not particularly inclined toward looking over security settings, it might take someone 10-20 minutes to go over them with you. If you just plain don't care, no amount of open or closed source software is going to make any difference whatsoever.

    1. Re:It's really not that difficult. by Culture20 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It only takes about 20 minutes to educate a neophyte, if they're willing to learn, how to lock down privacy on Facebook....

      Until Facebook changes it again. Two years ago, I had everything locked down to friends only. Since that time, they've forced profile picture, current city, home town, likes/interests, work history, education history (and approximate age by proxy), to be public. There are still options to prevent non-friends from seeing some of those things via Facebook, but the Facebook Connections API allows anyone on the internet access to all those things for every user (further confusing the issue, because people are "sure" they locked things down, and I have to argue with them to show them that they really don't). I'm curious whether a court will determine that providing fake privacy controls constitutes a "reasonable expectation of privacy", and smack Facebook hard in the near future.

  3. Re:Copy by pjfontillas · · Score: 3, Interesting

    But with the source code available people who do understand code can analyze the code for just such a thing. We don't need to have everyone understand how the code works we just need some that find any flaws that then help spread the word to everybody else.

    --
    Life. Is. Good.
  4. Re:Open Source Warning by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was in an amusing job interview the other day:

    Interviewer: "So, I'll need to see your Facebook page"
    Me: "I don't have one."
    Interviewer: "I know it's probably not something that you want all employers to see , but we're not 'narcs', we just want to know if you're a 'culture' fit."
    Me: "No, really. I don't have one. I never understood the draw."
    Interviewer: "You know, this is really not the sort of attitude we look for in a potential hire."
    Me: "...If you Google my name, you get one hit, and it's not Facebook."
    Interviewer: "I'm not going to show anyone."

    Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.