Once you’re online, for business or social reasons, there are so many things to consider. How much about yourself do you make public? How do you protect what you want to keep private? How do you draw the line if business and personal collide?
A big part of the decision about what to put out there revolves around what you CAN protect. Facebook is notorious for making privacy policy changes and confusing the heck out of users. Then, there are networks and other online services that share nuggets of your data without you even knowing. This online world can be a pretty scary place!
This week’s Bonfire Buzz shares a few articles about online privacy including recent changes, data collection you may not know about, and more on drawing the line when it comes to your privacy.
Facebook…Google-like?
Facebook has given users more control over who sees what when they sharing posts, photos and more on the site. This is particularly timely due to the the recent launch of Google+, a social network that already has these privacy controls built in. As a Facebook user, I am certainly not complaining.
Read more on Facebook: Making It Easier to Share With Who You Want
Not Unrealistic Expectations
This is an expansion of the issue of online privacy that talks about Facebook, Google+ and a recent lawsuit against ComScore, a company that can be considered a broker of consumer information. Food for thought, for sure.
Read more on Tech News World: The Best Protector of Privacy Online: Market Competition
You probably know that you can turn off collection of cookies that track your online activity right from your browser. And you can delete your cookie cache, too, to wipe clean the history tracking that gets passed onto advertisers. But…what if your profiles are recreated after you delete them, without your knowledge? Apparently, that’s what supercookies do.
Read more on The Atlantic: The Next Online Privacy Battle: Powerful Supercookies
On Your Side
Late last year, a groups of advertising organizations formed a self-regulating group that is supposed to help consumers be more proactive about their online privacy. And now, a consumer advocacy group is questioning whether this kind of self-regulation works or if this protection and education should be federally mandated. After all, what about the ad organizations who are not part of the self-regulating group? No privacy protection at all?
Read more on Internet Retailer: A consumer advocacy group calls for federal action on web advertising
Making Your Own Policy
This last article was written by a Small Business Bonfire member, Liz Jostes, and based on the comments that her post received, it tackles a decision that resonates with many Internet users. How you approach privacy is personal, but the line between personal and public is often very blurry. Where are you on this issue?
Read more on A Belle, a Bean and a Chicago Dog: The Marriage between Privacy and the Internet
Image credit: jonasjonas