Social Networking: Privacy Issues Essay -- Facebook, Twitter, Internet

Is it an invasion of privacy, if we place our private thoughts and photos on social websites and other people besides out friends and family view it? Who really reads the terms of use and conditions in a privacy statement online? We just click the checkbox and keep on going. If we had to read each and every single line, no one would ever sign up on a social networking site. How do users protect themselves through the forest of privacy options so they can get the most out of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter with the least amount of risk? The more information a user gives to the social network the greater risk that someone could misuse or steal information. Most users do not understand how to protect themselves and go through the necessary steps for protection on cyberspace. There are several problems with adding contact information in your profile. If you do not lock out this information to the friends you want to have such information, anyone that views your page can get you contact information such as cell phone, IM screen name, address, city and email address. According to the Web site geek system, Cryptome, a whistleblower site got their hands on Microsoft’s â€Å"Global Criminal Compliance Handbook,† a comprehensive 22 page guide running down surveillance services Microsoft perform for law enforcement agencies on its various online platforms, which includes detailed instructions from IP address extraction (Quigley, 2010). This article published electronic surveillance guides for Facebook, AOL and Skype (Quigley, 2010). According to Facebook search warrant guidelines data retrieval is based upon a Facebook user ID or group id (Facebook, 2008). When the Facebook ID is not available they can locate a user by using their email a... ... top 50 U.S. web properties for June 2010, Retrieved August 08, 2010 from: http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/7/comScore_Media_Metrix_Ranks_Top_50_U.S._Web_Properties_for_June_2010/%28language%29/eng-US comScore (2010b, June 2). Social networking ranks fastest growing mobile content category, Fastest growing content catergories via browser access 3 month avg. Retrieved August 8, 2010 from: http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/6/Social_Networking_Ranks_as_Fastest-Growing_Mobile_Content_Category/%28language%29/eng-US comScore. (2010c, July 28). Social networking sites reach a higher percentage of women than men worldwide. Reston, VA: Retrieved on August 4, 2010 from: http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/7/Social_Networking_Sites_Reach_a_Higher_Percentage_of_Women_than_Men_Worldwide/%28language%29/eng-US