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joltsik
Contributing Writer

Facebook Sellout?

Analysis
Dec 11, 20092 mins
Cisco SystemsData and Information SecurityFacebook

Privacy about-face shows that money talks and social networking walks

I am not a Facebook person but have been toying with becoming a user recently for personal and professional reasons. Now I’m not so sure. It seems that Facebook changed its privacy policies this week and now publishes a lot of data that was considered private and controlled exclusively by users until this week.Here is a link to an article that does a good job explaining the changes in privacy policy and the associated implications:http://www.thebigmoney.com/blogs/sausage/2009/12/10/facebook-privacy-drop-deadThere are a few lessons to be learned here:1. The best web properties (amazon, iTunes, Google, etc.) quickly figured out how to use Internet ubiquity to make money. The web business model seeking to attract users, create buzz, and then figure out how to monitize this trend seems to fail more often than not.2. Facebook’s radical about-face here tells me that it may be in some trouble. Look for turnover in the executive ranks soon.3. Anyone with children who use Facebook should pay more attention to their activities moving forward. We are raising a generation of kids who don’t understand or appreciate their privacy. We need to educate them and protect them from bait-and-switch tactics like Facebook’s.I’m sure Facebook won’t appreciate my thoughts but those of us who cherish our right to privacy aren’t dancing a jig about Facebook’s policy changes either.

joltsik
Contributing Writer

Jon Oltsik is a distinguished analyst, fellow, and the founder of the ESG’s cybersecurity service. With over 35 years of technology industry experience, Jon is widely recognized as an expert in all aspects of cybersecurity and is often called upon to help customers understand a CISO's perspective and strategies. Jon focuses on areas such as cyber-risk management, security operations, and all things related to CISOs.

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