Facebook scans chats and posts for criminal activity
Why stop at the pedos?
Underage drinking? Pot smoking? Street racing? Did you really leave the bar hammered last night and drive home? Opened the neighbors mail did we? Cut a penny in half? Did you use inappropriate language in a post that may have been read by a minor you might meet later that day? Tsk tsk tsk.
What's Facebook?
Klayfish wrote: What's Facebook?
The precursor Orwellian-like service that prepares the masses for their dystopian future by allowing them to be gently conditioned to volunteering every aspect of their lives to scrutiny.
Paranoid much, GPS? Something weighing on your conscience? It was the inappropriate language, wasn't it?
In reply to N Sperlo:
Is that you O'Brien?
What if you just joke about having smoked reefer? Our overlords have a sense of humor, no?
My organization scans fb. If you happen to smoke and don't sign up for cessation, you will get a lot of extra scrutiny and most likely have a short future here. They are also pushing for legislation to legally not hire/fire for smoking (aka your personal/lifestyle choices) Not a far step to firing for weight, medical condition or eye color.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:Klayfish wrote: What's Facebook?The precursor Orwellian-like service that prepares the masses for their dystopian future by allowing them to be gently conditioned to volunteering every aspect of their lives to scrutiny.
And here I just thought it was for people so insecure that they must constantly present the rosy picture of their life possible.
..........or whine like petulant children.
Maybe you are right.
My usual rule with Facebook is that you should never post anything there you don't want on the front page of your hometown newspaper or the Wall Street Journal.
MadScientistMatt wrote: My usual rule with Facebook is that you should never post anything there you don't want on the front page of your hometown newspaper or the Wall Street Journal.
FYI: This article is in reference to scanning peer-to-peer chats with individuals - not public posts. Like if the apartment manager were reading your mail or Verizon were listing to your phone calls.
Except FB is not the government nor are their specific laws about this (like mail and phone) so are under no obligation to honor privacy regarding anything they happen to find on their servers.
MadScientistMatt wrote: My usual rule with Facebook is that you should never post anything there you don't want on the front page of your hometown newspaper or the Wall Street Journal.
Bam. I only post the most generic stuff possible on there.
I don't get all the paranoia about Facebook's lack of "privacy". A. Nobody is forcing you to use Facebook, B. Nobody is telling you to post personal stuff on it, and C. You should just assume that anything you post on the internet anywhere can be seen by anyone and act accordingly.
I'm thinking It won't be long and they will get privacy regulations like exist for more traditional comunications (phone, mailed, email, etc.). It's just a new way to comunicate that thus far has existited only as a private buisiness so Facebook has been able to treat their user privacy like the wild west and do what they want.
In reply to Tom_Spangler:
It's not paranoia on my part - I do not participate. I'm trying to help educate folks who may not have understood that when a company offers you a service for free - your interests are not their interests. In fact, you are their prey.
How many FB users do you suppose read the terms of service?
How do you smoke reefer on Facebook?
I hope nobody assumed this wasn't already happening.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:Klayfish wrote: What's Facebook?The precursor Orwellian-like service that prepares the masses for their dystopian future by allowing them to be gently conditioned to volunteering every aspect of their lives to scrutiny.
does secret handshake
Welcome, brother...
Alan Cesar wrote: How do you smoke reefer on Facebook?
Secret code within Farmville 
This could be awesome if you think about it for a second. A few edgy conversations with yourself using two stereotypical made up FB characters, say one a 48 year old priest with a lot of Calvin Cline stock photos in his gallery and the other a shy, troubled boy of 15... and a police scanner... hilarity could ensue.
In reply to nocones:
I'm thinking FB is like airing your dirty laundry at the top of you lungs in a public park. There is no expectation of privacy, just like here.
Willie Nelson's farm?
Toyman01 wrote: In reply to nocones: I'm thinking FB is like airing your dirty laundry at the top of you lungs in a public park. There is no expectation of privacy, just like here.
Currently yes. But aren't their laws regulating the privacy practices of your ISP? Doesn't Yahoo, Gmail, etc. have laws that protect your Email privacy in ways that are similar to Postal Mail privacy? (I'm really not sure I thought there were, I've never looked into it to much because I don't really engage in nefarious things). I know over the telephone you have the expectation of privacy and laws protecting that.
I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that if you had a non-public facebook profile that you could assume some level of privacy and that privacy may be subject to protection under law.
I agree that today no expectation of privacy exists on Facebook as basically their User agreement says as much. As soon as the Public decides that Facebook should be regulated and privacy protected I suspect that things will change. For now My facebook dealings consist of pictures of my cat and random musing about stupid things. I don't put details that are comprimising on facebook so I don't personally have any privacy I feel I need to protect.
I figure if you're dumb enough to do something illegal and then tell everyone about it, you can't be too surprised if you get caught. There was a recent case where some guy siphoned gas out of a police car, and posted a photo of himself doing it on his Facebook page. Surprise, he got caught.
stuart in mn wrote: Surprise, he got caught.
I wonder if you were in a "private" chat with a Pakistani muslim woman who was married but not to you... would they report her to those authorities? I mean - it's an international company, right?
That is a different kind of stoned!
I wonder why any for-profit company would bother to try to police it's prey. Who is paying for that? Or, perhaps it is in exchange for something else that they might agree to do something that clearly may undermine the trust one would expect them to try to foster.... Hmmmm?
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Facebook scans chats and posts for criminal activity Why stop at the pedos? Underage drinking? Pot smoking? Street racing? Did you really leave the bar hammered last night and drive home? Opened the neighbors mail did we? Cut a penny in half? Did you use inappropriate language in a post that may have been read by a minor you might meet later that day? Tsk tsk tsk.
Here's a hint. Don't say anything in a public forum that you don't want anybody to hear.
It's really not that hard a concept to wrap your head around.
Duke wrote: It's really not that hard a concept to wrap your head around.
I think it must be - because you are not wrapping your head around it. It wasn't a public forum. It was a peer-to-peer chat that for all illusion has the air of "private".
The lesson isn't "Don't say anything". The lesson is "Read the Terms of Service" and understand that nothing is free. If you aren't paying - you are not the customer, you are the livestock. Expect to be eaten.
You'll need to log in to post.
