Is Facebook Really Private?

Shannon Porter Over 3 years later, "deleted" Facebook photos are still online February 2012 CNN.com Facebook: Is It Really Private? In today almost all people use Facebook, or definitely know someone who has a Facebook. Facebook is a means for making staying in touch with people much simpler. It allows all of us to simply type it someone’s name, hometown, school, job, etc. and everyone who has these will show up in a list on your page. When I was younger and growing up the popular site of choice was MySpace.com I was never allowed to have MySpace because my parents worried about the stories they heard on the news. But when you think about it Facebook is almost just as bad; Facebook is almost identical to MySpace except with a few restrictions. Some of the most prominent problems Facebook has faced is the fact that when you delete a picture off of Facebook, it doesn’t actually get deleted. It is removed from the site but if you were to save the URL you would be able to pull up the picture. Scandals due to the inability of Facebook to actually delete pictures have taken place in the media in the past years. An example of this would be the Katie Rees, Miss Nevada scandal which led to Ms. Rees being stripped of her title. She had inappropriate pictures online that she thought were deleted and on a private account but someone found them and showed them to the public. I was always told when I was younger that if I didn’t want someone seeing a picture of me I shouldn’t be agreeing for it to be up on Facebook. I feel that because everyone has such easy access to the Facebook and getting in contact with one another that you must be prepared for someone seeing the pictures that you wouldn’t want them seeing.

Syrian Computer Hacking

The article I chose to write about is titled “Computer Spyware is newest Weapon in Syrian Conflict”. The article was published by CNN, on February 17, 2012. This article is about how the Syrian government has started to use computer viruses to hack people’s computers in order to find out what they are doing. So far, they have only found that the Syrian government has hacked computers belonging to members of opposition forces. From what I understand, these viruses are just like ones that we may be able to get on our own computers, accept that these viruses send all the information they gather back to the Syrian government. It has been discovered that these viruses keep track of which keys you use, and also take screen shots of your computer, which would allow the Syrian government to see exactly what someone is doing on their computer. Some of the things professionals have discovered were viewed by the Syrian government include banking files, and well as other personal information. These viruses have been sent to the United States and other professionals for analysis, and they have discovered that the viruses hide within the files in your computer, and are many times invisible to the user, which makes them extremely hard to remove from the computer.

                I feel that although in Syria they don’t have to same rights as we do in America, it’s totally wrong of the government to hack computers belonging to their citizens. I know that the rights people have, and the laws they follow are much different. But I just feel that the government should not be invading the privacy of its citizens. I know that if I lived in Syria and my computer was hacked, it would make me hate the Syrian government even more. So it might be helping the Syrian government at the moment, but I feel that it could possibly cause more people to rise up against the government. This could result in another war, which the United States could possibly get involved in. I’m not saying that this will happen, but form the way things have happened in the past, I wouldn’t be surprised if the United States somehow got involved.     

5 ways to secure your Facebook profile in a post-Timeline world by Rick Forget

When I first got my facebook, I did not really know how to use it.  I did not know how to block people or delete them.  Now Facebook has updated and become more advanced and more private.  At one point everyone you were friends with could see your blogs, and pictures. Know you can pick and choose  who looks at your profile and all your stuff. Recently, Facebook has switched to a more timeline.  It organizes all of your statuses and makes it in order so it is slightly easier to read.  Also the timeline gives you a cover picture and have a profile picture.  Facebook allows you to report if someone has been harrasing you or bullying you.  Facebook tries to crack down on if you are friend requesting people you dont know, it will say "Do you know this person personally?" I think what Facebook is doing is the right thing by trying to stop bullying, because social networks are where a majority of bullying happens.