facebook and identity theft

[red]

there are lots of articles on this.. latest from the independent

its obvious really, but still stunning how many people give their real name location and date of birth out to the whole world.. I realise the government are doing this for you too! but you dont need to help...

[Martin]

they just had a piece on Newsnight about it on Facebook - in an attempt to cash in on it's success, the owners flogged details to other companies of member's buying habits - and they were all up in arms because all their friends knew what they'd bought...................
I sometimes work with internet databases that do a job - forum, content management system, internet shop etc. - in the course of making a sale, we have to collect some personal information - all information is encrypted, transmitted by SSL (secure sockets layer), and is used as needed for id purposes - I NEVER get to see people's passwords, or their bank/card details - and we'd certainly never try to profit from that information - I find it a repugnant way of carrying on - my advice is to NEVER give any more info than you absolutely have to - sites like facebook are a magnet for every perve/crook in creation.............and if you're as pernickety as me, you balk at certain requests for info, and refuse!
As to which is worse - statebig brother, or bigbiz brother, I doubt there's much to choose.........

[Martin]

a rather better attitude from a large web organisation
http://whygive.wikimedia.org/2007/11/22 ... t-run-ads/

[yugogypsy]

That would explain the extreme amounts of junk email I'm getting, as for all else I'm closing my account on Face book NOW! Thanks Red
:cheers:Lois

[the.fee.fairy]

hmmmm.....i'm quite careful about what info i give over t'net.

I find that i have to give more info over the phone to faceless people to get to my bank details...or talk t someone about anything than i do on the net.

i can't remember who it was that told me to verify who the person on the other end was, but its stood me in good stead - alwaysw ask for their fukll namje and if they won't give it to you because of the 'data protection act', then refuse to give yours for the same reason...ask for their postcode and the first line of their address - you end up getting through to a manager much quicker!!

[hamster]

I'm quite careful too. I was just about to tell you all about a thing I was worried about, but realised I'd be posting too much info!!!

Obviously, my facebook profile is in my real name, but it is friends-only (now) and I never accept anyone I don't know as a 'friend'. I was astonished how many people did, according to that article. I'm quite careful about giving my real name out unless I have to as well, though probably not as careful as I should be.

I was utterly confused by this whole thing a while ago. Basically, in Oxford, there's a so-called tradition (it's about 10 years old - my tutor who was there 'back in the day' says they used to celebrate by having a glass or two of sherry with their tutor) of covering people with flour, eggs, decomposing squid etc when they finish their finals. The authorities have been trying to clamp down on this for a few years now, as clearly other people have to use the city centre and don't want to have to dodge smelly things on the pavement, and this year they used facebook to find photos of people who had been doing things that were against the rules.

The students' union was up in arms, giving people advice on how to defend themselves in hearings etc. As if they hadn't been warned many times that they shouldn't be doing it, and like they didn't realise facebook was public.

[the.fee.fairy]

its not just that - people are now being vetted for jobs depending on their facebook profile...

i think that's terrible! If i go out at the weekend and get really really drunk and fal over and think its funny, why would that affect my job sitting in an office monday to friday?

What an invasion of privacy?!

[Martin]

surely that's a good reason for adopting "nom de net" for your more outrageous antics!
You can hardly say it's an invasion of privacy if it's there on the net for everyone to see!
Try something really anonymous..........."The Feely Fairy" or similar.......noone would ever know

[red]

What an invasion of privacy?!

but thats the point.. once you have made it public, it is no longer private.

[QuakerBear]

Only ever post on line information that you wouldn't mind a known, active fraudster or your mum to have access to.

[the.fee.fairy]

what i meant by invasion of privacy is that its ridiculous for a company to refuse to employ you, or terminate your employment because of something you said on the internet, or a night out that you posted pictures of.

There are many documented cases of convicted paedophiles, and persons on the sex offenders register being employed with children/vulnerable people. Surely if someone is on a criminal register, that is worse than a drunken night out on a facebook profile! Yet, the Human Rights Brigade will cry and complain about that, but there's not so much emphasis on the drunken night out problem...

I think that there is far too many companies looking into their employees/prospective employees private lives - surely they should be employing by what is on the CV rather than an internet profile (and lets be honest...most 16year olds have a made up life on the net anyway!!). Its also stupid that a comment made when you were 17 on a profile may stop you getting employment at the age of 23 because the profile's been found by someone wishing to employ you...

[mrsflibble]

it scares me... but I'm not getting rid of my facebook account. My profile can only be thoroughly viewed by people on my friends list, so I have to vet you before you can see me.
and plus the fact, most people know me as Mrs Flibble rather than my real name. even my best mate sometimes refers to me as MrsF!