I can’t help but feel that computer users get the privacy they deserve. All kinds of junk, ridiculous statements and claims, photos etc. are uploaded to the likes of Facebook and other social networking sites, and people squawk because it is public?

Isn’t that what social networking is all about? Haven’t these people caught on that social networking sites try to sail as close to the wind as they can? Why do they think that Facebook has to keep changing its privacy agreement? It is full of double talk, worded to sound like they are on the side of the people but in actual fact doing little or nothing to protect anybody.

From what I see in Facebook et al, you can either go public or essentially block everything, and with everything blocked, it is no longer social networking, and Facebook et al knows this.

To make it all worse, Google make privacy statements and then either does nothing or goes back on them.. see here..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/aug/09/google-record-fine-ftc-safari

I half watched a part of the Ellen DeGeneres program on TV a few days ago, and had to laugh when she put up photos taken from some of her audiences Facebook pages. I don’t know if anybody complained after the show, because they had no right to do so. The show’s producers were careful to only show photos of the Facebook account holder, but as you may know, account holders have a bad habit of ‘tagging’ photos which contain more than an image of themselves, and I have seen photos of me appear where I would sooner they didn’t.

Amazing isn’t it that I am careful about what I show others, and yet stuff about me can be splattered around by others without my prior permission.

But what really irks is that I have multiple blogs for which I prefer to have different signatures, and the ONLY free blogging service which allows this is Blogger, and guess who owns Blogger.. G-rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-oogle..

There is no escape from all of the above. One way or another, you will appear somewhere, like it or not.

So, some rules..

1. Try to at least limit info that you put up about yourself anywhere
2. Always ensure that you are dressed well and do not get intoxicated or act as if you are either in public or at private parties. Some clown will ALWAYS have a cellphone camera in hot pursuit.
3. Do not disconnect from the Internet or you will never get to see where you are starring either as top billing or just a walk on part.
4. When dealing with friends or family who breach your privacy, while smacking them in the mouth may make you feel better, it is still assault and you could end up doing community service or worse..