IT’S NOT WHO YOU THINK.
FaceBook: We all knew that the creators of those engaging, fun and catchy apps were who knows who, from who knows where, aiming to do who knows what but we are finding out that there are serious ramifications from ignoring them. Articles are furiously being written on how to protect yourself whether for you individually or for your small business page (a good one can be found here from Techlicious) from these nefarious developers.
But what about the apps and sites we know? In this game of Whack-a-Mole where each side is trying to stay one step ahead, who thought to be wary of the established companies we know? I started looking at my privacy settings and found that the known is no better than the unknown.
A few surprising examples:
Both Twitter and Instagram want to post on your behalf without you knowing what they will post, in front of whom or when. Yet as absurd as this seems, it is one of the ‘permissions’ you gave them. You can turn it off but who would even check them out?
If you manage a group or business, you will give the NYT access to the content and members for each group.
And this is from the NYT!
Some apps take it one step further and do not allow you to make any changes to their settings. Take a look at what information Samsung grabs. On an app that I have no recollection of Liking!
I recommend your taking he time to review your FaceBook settings but please, when you are tempted to download an app, take a fun game, contest or quiz from the known and the unknown, READ THE PERMISSIONS BEFORE YOU GIVE AWAY YOUR PRIVACY TO TOTAL STRANGERS!!!!!!!!! And realize that it’s not just your information you are giving away, it’s everyone of your contacts.
“The term “Whac-a-mole” (or “Whack-a-mole“) is used colloquially to denote a repetitious and futile task: each time an adversary is “whacked”, it only pops up again somewhere else.” Sounds about right but at least we can give it our best shot.