# Facebook confesses



## mikeyB (Apr 11, 2018)

So, after all the recent stooshie about Facebook selling users’ details and personal likes, Zuckerburg admits that 1.1 million UK Facebook users details were sold to Cambridge Analystica. 

Facebook is now telling everyone who was affected. What I’m interested in is will this:

(A) cause you to never trust Facebook again, and leave
(B) make you think twice before sticking personal details on Facebook
(C) make you think Facebook will be nice and honest in future, and understand what ‘private’ means 

Personally, I think it’s daft to think it won’t happen again, because that is their business model - selling you to advertisers. I know other companies do this as well to a degree, but that is not their main business. And you can usually tick a box that says don’t.


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## Mark T (Apr 11, 2018)

I was always in the category (B).  There is some information I try to avoid putting on.

However, my various family members are scattered, things like facebook are helpful for sharing and communicating.  I suspect that the other services are not that much better - it's just they haven't been found out yet.


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## mikeyB (Apr 11, 2018)

Aye, though it’s not just you, it’s your friends as well. If they are less scrupulous, your details may go the same way. 

I’m sure other services do it, nobody provides a service for nothing.


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Apr 11, 2018)

I've never had a Faceache account and certainly won't in the future, ditto Twatter, Instagram et al. OH doesn't either, we've always been highly suspicious of social media.


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## Ralph-YK (Apr 11, 2018)

mikeyB said:


> (A) cause you to never trust Facebook again, and leave


I never trusted them in the first place, and my current account is not active. I deleted my previous accounts.


mikeyB said:


> (B) make you think twice before sticking personal details on Facebook


I already thought twice, and am now on thinking 4 times, before posting anything anywhere online (although I have been careless sometimes).
In facet my RL name isn't Ralph and I'm not from Yorkshire. 


mikeyB said:


> (C) make you think Facebook will be nice and honest in future, and understand what ‘private’ means


Of course not


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## mikeyB (Apr 11, 2018)

Thanks for that reply, George - oops, sorry


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## kentish maid (Apr 11, 2018)

I certainly don't think Facebook will be nice and honest in future, and understand what ‘private’ means
I have the grand total of 23 friends, quite a few are either friends who have moved abroad or family. I think my settings are pretty tight and hopefully very little of what I post is visible to the public in general. I am totally amazed by what some people post and that they are quite happy to share it with the public !!!!! Slightly worries me what might have been sold on about me.


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## Ralph-YK (Apr 11, 2018)

Using an on line name (nickname) is thing. Most of my on-line activity for the last almost 4 years has been under a nickname. And I have avoided being too precise about my location.
[Edit] Note, I don't use a false name.  I don't pretend it's my birth name or my family use it.


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## kentish maid (Apr 11, 2018)

Whilst I wouldn't put my real name on a forum like this I was naively led to believe that on Facebook you could only have one account and that it should be in your own name. I have known several people who have more than one account and got very annoyed when I first joined to find that people from a forum I used to be on had signed up to Facebook with their old forum names. It prompted me to cull all those people who I only knew from online sources


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## Amigo (Apr 11, 2018)

Lucy Honeychurch said:


> I've never had a Faceache account and certainly won't in the future, ditto Twatter, Instagram et al. OH doesn't either, we've always been highly suspicious of social media.



I’ve never subscribed either Lucy and am highly suspicious of social media and the misuse of personal information.  
I’m not really happy about the public accessibility of posts on here which is why I wouldn’t post a real name or photo.


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## mikeyB (Apr 11, 2018)

Aye, I don’t know why off topic forums are publicly visible. They are locked on the Parkinson’s forum, and the Pancreatis forum is completely blocked to unregistered readers.


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## Amigo (Apr 11, 2018)

mikeyB said:


> Aye, I don’t know why off topic forums are publicly visible. They are locked on the Parkinson’s forum, and the Pancreatis forum is completely blocked to unregistered readers.



I wish they could be Mike. The main forum business in terms of diabetic advice needs to be publicly accessible but the social support and off topics don’t need to be publicly visible.


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## mikeyB (Apr 11, 2018)

Yup, shall we ask the powers that be to consider this? I sometimes wondered how the general public would respond to the insanity of a zero carb cafe...


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## Ralph-YK (Apr 12, 2018)

kentish maid said:


> Whilst I wouldn't put my real name on a forum like this I was naively led to believe that on Facebook you could only have one account and that it should be in your own name.


I believe Facebook has a rule about using your "real" name.  I believe others have things in their T&C about using your "proper" name for signing up etc.


kentish maid said:


> and got very annoyed when I first joined to find that people from a forum I used to be on had signed up to Facebook with their old forum names. It prompted me to cull all those people who I only knew from online sources


Do you mean you were annoyed Kentish?  Why were you prompted to cull?


kentish maid said:


> to find that people from a forum I used to be on had signed up to Facebook with their old forum names.


Some People will use the same name on the different sites they sign up to.  Interestingly, I've not noticed a lot of that over the last 3 years.  Maybe the people I've met are being a bit more careful.


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## Ralph-YK (Apr 12, 2018)

There's a forum I've come across where, to see anything at all, you need to sign up.  Thing is, like every other forum I've seen, anybody can just sign up (with multiple accounts if they want).  I still consider it completely public.


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## kentish maid (Apr 12, 2018)

Ralph-YK said:


> Do you mean you were annoyed Kentish? Why were you prompted to cull?


As I saw it they were flouting the terms and conditions. Why would they want to hide behind a bogus name on Facebook? My surname is fairly uncommon so after my son pointed out some of the pitfalls of Facebook I made sure I only friend people I have actually met as flesh and blood people.


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## Ralph-YK (Apr 12, 2018)

Privacy concerns? Perhaps they don't want random people finding them on Facebook. Or able to find them in real life.  It's quite possible to find people, and see what they've posted, on Facebook without being friended.  Or even logged in.  Since you say you're name is fairly uncommon, that is a reason for you not to use it online.


kentish maid said:


> I made sure I only friend people I have actually met as flesh and blood people.


I've done that on some sites.


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## kentish maid (Apr 12, 2018)

Ralph-YK said:


> There's a forum I've come across where, to see anything at all, you need to sign up.  Thing is, like every other forum I've seen, anybody can just sign up (with multiple accounts if they want).  I still consider it completely public.


Now you are making me start to wonder how many people on here have multiple accounts, worrying


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## grovesy (Apr 12, 2018)

kentish maid said:


> Now you are making me start to wonder how many people on here have multiple accounts, worrying


I have been here since early days and I have not suspected or seen any.


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## Robin (Apr 12, 2018)

kentish maid said:


> Now you are making me start to wonder how many people on here have multiple accounts, worrying


Sometimes there is a legitimate reason ( not for a forum like this, though, admittedly) , my daughter has two Twitter accounts, one personal, which all her real friends use, and one in a fictitious name which goes with the same fictitious name under which she posts her riding videos on YouTube. That's for her own protection, and to protect the stables, so nobody can identify her or them and start trolling in real life.


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## Robin (Apr 12, 2018)

kentish maid said:


> Now you are making me start to wonder how many people on here have multiple accounts, worrying


I've noticed a couple of times since I've been here, that people have reappeared under a different name, and I'm sure they are the same person. It may be that they forgot their original login details, I've never been aware of anyone running and posting on two accounts at once. And I'm sure Northerner would spot if someone he'd banned came back as someone else!


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## kentish maid (Apr 12, 2018)

Robin said:


> Sometimes there is a legitimate reason ( not for a forum like this, though, admittedly) , my daughter has two Twitter accounts, one personal, which all her real friends use, and one in a fictitious name which goes with the same fictitious name under which she posts her riding videos on YouTube. That's for her own protection, and to protect the stables, so nobody can identify her or them and start trolling in real life.


That I can understand Robin


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## Ralph-YK (Apr 12, 2018)

I think there's been a couple of people who forgot their log in on here.  For a site like this, it would mostly be spammers and trolls with multiple accounts I think.
Sites like Facebook, you might have one for family and another for friends (you don't want your mum looking at pictures of you and your friends in a club).  Or real life friends and on line friends.
Some people use them for stirring things up, or getting round blocks. This is definitely out of line.

I've not spotted any problems here.


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## Northerner (Apr 12, 2018)

kentish maid said:


> Now you are making me start to wonder how many people on here have multiple accounts, worrying


We don't allow multiple registrations here, and have methods of detecting whether someone is already signed up as someone else


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## Ralph-YK (Apr 12, 2018)

Oh, one of the things Facebook can do it tell where you are (without you saying) whenever you log in. And it might be displayed to others. It records all sorts automatically, and makes connections.
This is part of why Facebook sharing your information is so important.  For them and us.


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## Ralph-YK (Apr 12, 2018)

Northerner said:


> We don't allow multiple registrations here


I think that's a reasonable rule for this type of site.


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## kentish maid (Apr 12, 2018)

Northerner said:


> We don't allow multiple registrations here, and have methods of detecting whether someone is already signed up as someone else


Thank you, that is reassuring


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## Lanny (Apr 12, 2018)

I left facebook & deleted my account last August 2017 but, it took a month for that to happen: wasn’t easy either! Had tried a few times but, kept getting stopped by facebook, So, googled how to delete facebook account, followed the helpful instructions posted by others & had to wait for the account to be deleted. I didn’t like the increasing changes, that infringed on privacy: targeted ads, public postings of various things even though set to friends only! I hardly used it anyway & was constantly barraged with emails from fb to go back on the site to check what’s happened! The privacy settings etc. were getting complicated to set up & I felt a bit exposed & didn’t know if my settings were right?

I only check my GP practice’s fb page regularly for helpful info! But, get a very restricted window to see the page as there’s a HUGE banner demanding I log on or create an account!


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## mikeyB (Apr 13, 2018)

And yet more and more people are being seduced by their Amazon Echo, asking Alexa about all sorts of stuff. Amazon stores every single interaction. They are now developing a system which can listen in to your phone conversations, say, discussing a possible restaurant to go to, so that Alexa can interject and ask if you would like it to make a booking, or pick up other key words, and suggest buying Viagra. This particular ability is one for the future, they say.

I can’t believe how stupid folk can be allowing these huge American information behemoths into their homes, and believe that it is a benign home help. Aye, right.

Time for a song: Getting to know you, getting to know all about you...


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## kentish maid (Apr 13, 2018)

I read this book fairly recently - quite frightening as I could see it all happening
'The Circle

Fast, thrilling, compulsively addictive - The Circle is Dave Eggers's timely novel about our obsession with the internet.

When Mae is hired to work for the Circle, the one of the most powerful internet company, she feels she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. Run out of a sprawling California campus, the Circle links users' personal emails, social media, and finances with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of transparency. Mae can't believe her great fortune to work for them - even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public.'

Talk of people having to vote in elections online or have access to data denied, I won't disclose other things in case anyone decides to read it


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## kentish maid (Apr 14, 2018)

I must have been living in a bubble. I hadn't realised how many 'social media' sites were out there. I seem to remember Google setting one up but not sure if it really took off as Facebook seemed to have the monopoly
https://www.1and1.co.uk/digitalguid...4ccbeb5e4d12e.jpg&ac=OM.UK.UKo50K410737T7073a


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## Ralph-YK (Apr 14, 2018)

kentish maid said:


> I must have been living in a bubble. I hadn't realised how many 'social media' sites were out there.


It's vary easy to miss some of the things that are out there.


kentish maid said:


> I seem to remember Google setting one up but not sure if it really took off as Facebook seemed to have the monopoly


Yes, it is very much like that.  Facebook gets all the publicity.

There was one called Experience Project that I liked.  I found it purely by chance when looking for something else.  Unfortunely that's completely gone now. .
Wikipedia has quite a list, although not up to date.


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## FM001 (Apr 14, 2018)

Can't abide facebook and its like, just don't get why people have their lives on show for all to see, maybe I'm just a miserable old sod.


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## Northerner (Apr 14, 2018)

toby said:


> Can't abide facebook and its like, just don't get why people have their lives on show for all to see, maybe I'm just a miserable old sod.


There's probably a Facebook group for people like you


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## kentish maid (Apr 14, 2018)

Northerner said:


> There's probably a Facebook group for people like you


I shouldn't have read that while I was drinking!!!!!


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## Mark Parrott (Apr 14, 2018)

I got back in contact with a few long lost friends on Facebook.  That was the good bit.  Now it's all dull meanderings & pics of their dinner.


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## Davein (Apr 14, 2018)

Mark Parrott said:


> I got back in contact with a few long lost friends on Facebook.  That was the good bit.  Now it's all dull meanderings & pics of their dinner.


That sounds familiar Mark


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## Ralph-YK (Apr 15, 2018)

*shuffles feet*


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