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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.'"

11 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?

  2. Open Source Warning by AnonymousClown · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Before creating a facebook account, please consider this:
    • Facebook must exploit your personal info in order to make the mega bucks that they've grown used to.
    • A Facebook page may make you unemployable.
    • All Facebook privacy safeguards will be circumvented.
    --
    RIP America

    July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001

    1. Re:Open Source Warning by Abstrackt · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A Facebook page may make you unemployable.

      This one thing from an otherwise good post really bugged me. You may make yourself unemployable by posting things you shouldn't in public because despite Facebook's atrocious privacy policy they can only work with data you give them.

      --
      They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
    2. Re:Open Source Warning by dcmoebius · · Score: 5, Insightful

      they can only work with data you give them.

      Not true, actually. They can also work with the information your "friends" give them.

    3. Re:Open Source Warning by icebraining · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In fact, it's the reverse: being on Facebook is better because it alerts you when people tag you, so you can ask them to take it down/edit it; if you aren't registered you probably will never know until it bites you.

      --
      Dilbert RSS feed
    4. Re:Open Source Warning by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You may make yourself unemployable by posting things you shouldn't in public because despite Facebook's atrocious privacy policy they can only work with data you give them.

      Gibberish. I could post a picture of two drunken idiots dancing naked in the street on my page - and tag one of them as you.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  3. Re:Other websites knowing your facebook account by mehrotra.akash · · Score: 4, Informative

    Account->privacy settings->Apps and websites Disable "Instant Personalization Pilot Program"

  4. Looking forward by Spad · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Cue an endless series of phishing sites: "Did you know that anyone on the internet can see things you post on your Facebook page? Just type in your username and password and we'll scan your profile to see if it's secure..."

  5. 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.

  6. Re:Other websites knowing your facebook account by TimmyDee · · Score: 5, Informative

    I wish it were that easy. I have the "Instant Personalization Pilot Program" disabled on my account, but FB Connect popped up on CNN Money this morning.

    What did I do? I specifically blocked any URL containing "fbconnect". Problem solved. OmniWeb let me do this using RegEx, but I'm sure the same can be done with AdBlock.

    --
    Per Square Mile, a blog about density
  7. Application Boundary Enforcer by johndoe42 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Even if you turn off instant personalization, facebook still knows every time you visit one of those partner sites. But NoScript (I leave scripts enabled globally) has a cute feature called Application Boundary Enforcer. Here's (some of) my config:

    Site .facebook.com
    Accept from .facebook.com
    Deny

    Site .fbcdn.net
    Accept from .facebook.com
    Accept from .fbcdn.net
    Deny

    Enjoy!