Facebook Privacy Rights
Jenny and Jacob broke up last night. Alex liked Isabel’s status, Carly had a bad day, Jeff got an A on his biology test, and Annie just unfriended Jessica for the third time. I would have known none of this if I did not have a Facebook. Another example that our generation willingly shares too much information over Facebook. Facebook creates a sense of false security that encourages consumers to express nearly every thought online. This leads us to question, just how private is life in the digital age of today? With our steadily growing dependence on social media, sites such as Facebook and Twitter are preying off any personal information users post on their sites from their current location down to the use of algorithms based upon what advertisements clicked on and what posts we like. Users cannot control what others post on Facebook. Consumers can be associated, or tagged, in any posts or photos by “friends” regardless of the content of the post even without the approval of the user. Many times this content is offensive, but Facebook does not protect the privacy of the person being tagged even if that person disagrees with the post they are mentioned in, the post cannot be deleted by anyone but the person who posted it. This false information paired with the public default setting Facebook has turned to, make it easy for potential employers and universities to get an idea of who someone is based on what is posted on their Facebook. 75% of employers use Facebook when researching a candidate, 85% then disqualify candidates if they find something. This is particularly important because most employers have at least one employee that is knowledgeable enough about technology to hack into a Facebook profile, even when a profile is set to private. Is it our responsibility as the consumers to protect our own privacy or does this fall into the hands of the company, who has omniscient knowledge? With the new additions to Facebook, consumers are starting to