Thursday, November 05, 2009
"Beacon" Of Hope?
We are quickly losing any semblance of privacy over the Internet. Literally everyone has a Facebook profile these days, and most of it's users are not fully aware of just how much information about them and their web surfing habits are actually being collected.
To make matters worse, not only is the information being collected, it is potentially viewable by other users, and companies looking to direct marketing strategies toward you if you fit their customer profile. In an article written by Tom Regan, he goes on to outline a program called Beacon, which chronicles your web surfing habits while you are logged into Facebook. The program links activities which you take part in, such as web surfing, game playing, or shopping right to your Facebook profile. Facebook lets users opt out of the program however, if you leave the "remember me" option checked, Facebook still collects, but does not display information about your web surfing, and shopping habits.
In my personal opinion, programs such as Beacon and others which collect personal system and non system data about our everyday lives is really putting our privacy and identity at risk. All of our lives are becoming very public, and more so each and every day. Facebook knows more about our lives than maybe our closest friends and family members. We better stay on the company's good side.
For more information on Beacon Click Here.
To make matters worse, not only is the information being collected, it is potentially viewable by other users, and companies looking to direct marketing strategies toward you if you fit their customer profile. In an article written by Tom Regan, he goes on to outline a program called Beacon, which chronicles your web surfing habits while you are logged into Facebook. The program links activities which you take part in, such as web surfing, game playing, or shopping right to your Facebook profile. Facebook lets users opt out of the program however, if you leave the "remember me" option checked, Facebook still collects, but does not display information about your web surfing, and shopping habits.
In my personal opinion, programs such as Beacon and others which collect personal system and non system data about our everyday lives is really putting our privacy and identity at risk. All of our lives are becoming very public, and more so each and every day. Facebook knows more about our lives than maybe our closest friends and family members. We better stay on the company's good side.
For more information on Beacon Click Here.
