Cops use Facebook too

For some reason police stopping a party because of a lead on facebook is kind of interesting, but it goes to show that we are heading towards this big brother culture as expressed by George Orwell, we are accelerating our inevitable loss of privacy, when it is all gone we wont get it back.

Students were planning a post-prom party that included alcohol and drugs. However, cops were able to use Facebook to find out about the party and stop the kids before they arrived at the venue.

http://www.wkrg.com/technology/article/cops_use_facebook_to_bust_post-prom_party/54976/

Wow. This class (and especially the speaker this week) has got me thinking a lot more about privacy issues on the Web... Especially on social networking sites. This is an example of what I think appears to be a blatant privacy violation on a social networking site. I think you're right about the big brother culture... I mean, no one wants a 1984 style "we're watching every move you make" life... But with the internet and everyone putting all their personal information on sites like facebook, that's probably what's going to happen (or already has).

In 2005, two students at MIT conducted a research project on privacy (http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.805/student-papers/fall05-papers/facebook.pdf).
They were able to download ~70,000 Facebook profiles pretty easily. Information being easily accessible in the context of this discussion brings up the fear of surveillance. There are some comments on this in an earlier post (https://socialnetworks101.forumotion.net/blog-posts-f4/cia-uses-facebook-nsa-wants-social-networking-data-t411.htm)

Speaking of privacy...here's a pretty cool, and scary, display/gadget that someone made for an event. It's called the cloud mirror.

The cloud mirror is basically a camera that is hooked up to a projector and displays what the camera sees. It also finds the face of the person standing in front of the camera and adds a thought/speech bubble. Now, here's when it gets interesting. The content that gets shown in the thought/speech bubble is taken from that person's facebook/twitter account. Though it was optional, participants of this event was asked to provide their facebook and twitter accounts during registration. Then days before the event, cloud mirror friends them and gently data-mines their profiles. Come event day, participants' name tag also had a 2D barcode, which many wore around their neck. So the camera would then be able to identify the person with the 2D barcode and display relevant content in the thought/speech bubble, like "Facebook says I'm single".

It's a very funny and cool idea, but it just reminds us to think twice before giving others access to your online profiles, even if you think there's nothing dangerous.

Link to the Cloud Mirror

While I find this article interesting, I find it kind of ridiculous at the same time. People have this distorted view of Facebook, where they voluntarily offer personal information to a public website and then are surprised when people get access to this information. Anybody who puts information that’s incriminating, legally or emotionally, on Facebook is not acting very smart.

Dave is absolutely right; Facebook is inherently not a private place. Fundamentally, it is a social networking site where people voluntarily display information in public view. Discussing an upcoming party on somebody's wall or in an event group is no more private than discussing it on the sidewalk. If you put a sign in your lawn that says "I grow weed here," you shouldn't be surprised when the cops knock on your door.

If you don't want something to be found out, DON'T PUT IT ON FACEBOOK. It's that simple.