Facebook’s New Moves: Balancing Privacy with Profits

This is not the University of Arizona Mascot. It's just a Devil. And the Facebook logo. Make of it what you will...

Facebook is trying to take over the world/the internet/your life! Or at least, that’s the impression someone might get by perusing blogs, news aggregators and general web industry water cooler discussions.  With the implementation of their “Instant Personalization” feature, Facebook basically drew back the curtain on the amount of personal data they’re willing to share with other sites. Couple this with the brouhaha over their almost constant mis-steps and backtracking with regards to their privacy policies and it’s almost like Facebook can do no right.

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Posted by: Doug

Internet Privacy Gets a Black Eye

Companies gathering information from consumers on the Internet need to be upfront about how they will use that content. There is a shocking story in the Thursday March 26th New York Times about how one site, www.realage.com is really passing on consumer’s information to drug companies that turn around and market information about their products who might have a specific condition. The practice raises serious privacy issues in part because the site’s privacy policy does not specifically mention the firm’s relationship with drug companies, and consumers are sent information about drug treatment options before they may have even been diagnosed by a physician. It is certainly proper for companies to request information from consumers or customers. Those that are upfront about the use of information, and don’t sell it to third parties, will not maintain their integrity, they will earn their customer’s trust and business.

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Posted by: Doug