Posted on 06/20/2011 3:07:56 PM PDT by PubliusInFlorida
If you’re still not using any of the privacy settings on Facebook, here’s the most compelling reason why you need to change that as soon as possible. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has given the thumbs up to Social Intelligence Corp, which keeps files of Facebook users’ posts as part of a background-checking service for screening job applicants. The FTC decided Social Intelligence complies with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the same set of rules that keeps your bill-payment records on file with the consumer bureaus for seven years, according to Forbes. That’s how long your social media postings remain in Social Intelligence’s records. Even if you delete an embarrassing photo or bawdy status update, the material could stay in your file for seven years, during which time it might be used against you if a prospective employer were to use the agency’s services to screen applicants. This ups the ante on prospective employers simply Googling you or even looking for you on Facebook and other sites — by now, many job hunters know enough to clean up their profiles when looking for work. Social Intelligence would have the goods on you before you cleaned up your online act, dating back seven years. We can only suspect that if Social Intelligence has the go-ahead to operate in this capacity, other start-ups might follow. That’s all the more reason to err on the safe side and use Facebook’s privacy settings to their fullest. Readers, does learning about services like Social Intelligence make you want to recheck your security settings or start using them if you haven’t done so already?
You cannot delete a facebook account. You can take it offline, but as soon as you log back into FB, it’ll welcome you home. And all of your content is still uploaded there.
Uh, you can't delete the account. Okay, I'm sorry. You can go through the mechanics of deleting the account. Except the account will still be there. Inaccessible, but still there.
Joining Facebook is kinda like checking into the Hotel California in the Eagles song:
Last thing I remember, I was running for the door, I had to find the passage back to the place I was before, "Relax," said the night man, "We are programmed to receive, You can check out anytime you like... but you can never leave"Just one on many reasons Facebook is toxic.
I deleted a F/B account.
I asked for it to be deleted, confirmed and never went back. You can Google, Yahoo, Dogpile, Bing, etc. (active and cache) and it just doesn’t exist.
But you need to never touch it again.
>>Okay, I’m sorry. You can go through the mechanics of deleting the account. Except the account will still be there. Inaccessible, but still there.<<
Well, there are no data associated with it AND I will of course delete the underlying email account.
No data+no email account capable of catching SPAM=Pretty tiny footprint.
Even people who have NEVER signed onto the internet have an internet footprint. Just check that gawd-awful geneology site. They even list the SSNs of people who have passed away. Birth records are (except for the Kenyan Born) public records.
Better to actively manage it as best as you can...
Better than living in fear. If someone really wants to get info on me, you, or most anyone it's pretty straightforward, cheap and fast these days.
My daughter has wanted a FB account for a few years now. She’s 15 and my answer is still “No.”
As of today, my answer is “When you turn 18 and are legally responsible for your social postings, go for it. Until then, ain’t no way in hell!”
My Husband and I have never used Facebook.
My Husband and I will never use Facebook.
I just can’t wrap my head around posting your entire life for everyone to see.
I understand.
But handing over everything on a silver platter doesn’t have sense to me.
>You folks think your anonymous hiding behind a screen name?<
I have nothing to hide, as my name is max americana...former boyfriend to 11 Victoria Secret supermodels, ex-secret agent and secret inventor of the Nascar block engine.
of course, it could be that I work in a circus..
And “LinkedIn.com” is just as bad as FB.
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