A lot more Facebook Accounts Deleted Because Of Privacy

If you need to delete your Facebook, join the crowd. In April, Facebook launched new features that extend the personal information of Facebook users from their friends and network to the Internet at large. Individuals seem to be more concerned about Facebook privacy issues and what Facebook is doing with their personal information. Web superstars, privacy advocates, and even politicians have announced that they will be deleting their Facebook accounts.

For privacy’s sake, deleting Facebook accounts

People are deleting Facebook account because their personal information is now fair game unless they block it manually. Blogger Mat McKeon reports that when Facebook was founded, in 2005, it restricted a user's personal data to just friends and their network. These last few years, Facebook default privacy settings for every person’s personal details is now as permissive as very same day payday loans. Now anyone can access your info except your birthday and contact details. Facebook has also changed how your personal information is classified several times in ways that many users see as deliberately confusing.

Facebook privacy setting need to updated

McKeon isn’t suggesting individuals delete their accounts and he isn’t either. He identifies with Facebook's effort to make money off the info it gathers by providing a free service. He just strongly encourages double and triple checking your privacy settings for a personal profile that could possibly be revealing every little thing from where you live to the movies you like and also the individuals you trust. The Wall Street Journal reports that some high-profile members of the tech community, such as Google search-engine guru Matt Cutts and Engadget co-founder Peter Rojas, have announced in recent weeks that they were deactivating their Facebook accounts, a step that shuts down but doesn’t delete the Facebook account completely.

How am I to permanently delete my Facebook account?

Permanently deleting your Facebook account won’t be as simple as a click. Facebook makes it quite easy to deactivate your account, which will temporarily hide your info. Apparently, as outlined by wikiHow, finding the “permanent delete” option is much harder. This wikiHow article answers the question: How to delete my Facebook account forever?

Facebook and privacy issues

"Delete Facebook account" has been a top search term on Google recently. As outlined by ABC News, the latest backlash started brewing after Facebook’s developer conference that was a few weeks ago. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a number of changes he said would make the Web a lot more social and personalized by expanding Facebook's presence to other online websites. On numerous sites a "social plug-in" now lets users "like" content and see what their Facebook friends have liked, directly from those websites.

Facebook privacy violations

By default, now Facebook gives third-party companies access to members' names, friend lists and hobbies to "personalize" their surfing experience. When a Facebook user logs onto any web site with the Facebook social plug-in, the content displayed is shaped by the personal information that was in their Facebook account, as well as the personal info of their friends. To disable this feature, a manual opt-out is needed.

Advocates of Facebook privacy

Powerful legislator is on the side of individuals who are upset about Facebook privacy policies. "With great power comes great responsibility, and sites like Facebook have great responsibility," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said at a news conference a week after Facebook's announcements. "In my view, it ought to be the user who determines who gets what information, not Facebook." Schumer asked the Federal Trade Commission to create guidelines that Facebook and other social networks are required to follow.

Many delete Facebook account forever

Facebook hasn’t done much to help its recent problem relating to privacy. In a Q and A session with the New York Times this week Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s vice president for public policy, responded to all of the privacy concerns by saying that participating in Facebook is “a choice.” He said “Please don’t share if you’re not comfortable.”. That advice is being taken by many.

Citations

Mat McKeon reports

http://mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/

Wall Street Journal reports

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/05/14/looking-to-delete-your-facebook-a...