I have to agree. Facebook is an unessential service. kleinbl00, insomniasexx, you and I could stop using it tomorrow and it really wouldn't have a drastic effect on our lives. Read the terms and conditions, if they violate those, then you have every right to be upset with them. Otherwise, being up in arms because a site that clearly states they will share your information, shares your information is like being upset that your barber cut your hair. That's what they do. What was interesting about reading this piece is what insom points out: And this, kids, is how changes happen little by little and in the end we don't even realize we have no privacy, no security, and the government and huge corporations are watching and tracking our every move.
-Though I would say that little by little that which we deem acceptable breaches of privacy changes. What most rational people are angry about is the amount of apathy in regards to the little by little changes. I'll admit, I'm part of the problem. I use Facebook, post pictures of my wife and kids there for geographically distant relatives to see and I don't think about the fact that I'm feeding the beast. It's definitely a case of the boiling frog.
This Hubski post / discussion has some interesting insights into this situation. I have so many different ideas about privacy, how things currently work, why they work that way, and how they should work. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by my comments on that post, I haven't quite figured out how to concisely share my point of view. I have too many ideas and too many seemingly hypocritical points. That boiling frog premise is a really great metaphor for these changes. I am enjoying revisiting old posts about technology and internet services because, even if we don't notice the incremental changes (as the water heats), the change is noticeable when you look at 2006 vs 2014 and ignore 2007-2013.