WebProNews

Tag: Privacy

  • Facebook Privacy Hoax Still Making the Rounds, Still Dumb As Ever

    Facebook Privacy Hoax Still Making the Rounds, Still Dumb As Ever

    Every time one of these Facebook privacy hoaxes starts making the rounds, I don’t want to write anything about it. It’s like beating a dead horse.

    But it’s not really a dead horse. It’s a zombie horse. And when I see dozens of people on my feed posting the same bullshit statuses, I feel compelled.

    Facebook is never going to charge you and posting a status will never legally prohibit Facebook from using your content.

    There are actually two versions of the same privacy hoax message going around – both of which have a similar thread running through them. Basically, the gist of the copypasta statuses is that Facebook is going to turn all of your private posts public.

    The first hoax claims that Facebook will begin to charge you for its services. This particular hoax has been around for years, oftentimes presenting itself as “Facebook Gold” or something similar.

    Now it’s official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: $5.99 to keep the subscription of your status to be set to ‘private.’ If you paste this message on your page, it will be offered free (paste not share) if not tomorrow, all your posts can become public. Even the messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. After all, it does not cost anything for a simple copy and paste.

    The other form of the hoax is legal mumbo jumbo that is supposed to bar Facebook from using your content in any way. It’s usually preceded by the phrase “better safe than sorry.”

    Better safe than sorry. As of September 28th, 2015 at 5:00pm, Eastern standard time, I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, or posts, both past and future. By this statement, I give notice to Facebook it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308- 1 1 308-103 and the Rome Statute). NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tactically allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates. DO NOT SHARE. You MUST copy and paste.

    Facebook will never charge you to use the service. That would be counterproductive. It already makes plenty of money off you. You are the product.

    Also, Facebook is allowed to use your likeness, photos, videos, statuses, likes, and check-ins in order to target ads and promote other content. It’s in the terms of service, and you agree to it when you sign up. Posting some legalese status will never change that.

    Please do your part and notify anyone posting these statuses that they should not post these statuses, as they are dumb and pointless.

    Image via Ksayer1, Flickr Creative Commons

  • Google Drive Boosts Security, Privacy Control For Businesses

    Google Drive Boosts Security, Privacy Control For Businesses

    Google says the number of paying organizations actively using Google Drive crossed a million earlier this year. The company is taking steps to improve security and privacy protection for Drive as well as Google Apps for Work and Google Apps for Education.

    For one, Google Drive is getting enhanced eDiscovery for Google Apps Vault, which gives businesses more visibility and control over employee files. In other words, Drive will fall under the same retention policies and legal hold capabilities available for email and chat. Google says these capabilities will help businesses meet their legal obligations and ensure employee files are archived and available as long as needed, even if employees delete them from their Drive. This is in limited rollout and will be generally available in the coming months.

    Google has also updated the Mobile Device Management (MDM) for Google Drive business customers, enabling businesses to monitor usage, enforce strong passwords, and enable device encryption. If a worker loses their phone or leaves the company, the data can be wiped. Business data can we wiped without wiping their personal data. Earlier this year, Google Drive debuted on comScore’s list of the top 25 mobile apps. In August, it was number 16 on the list.

    Finally, Google is adding the new ISO/IEC 27018:2014 privacy standard to its compliance framework.

    “This audit validates our privacy practices and contractual commitments to our customers, verifying for example that we don’t use your data for advertising, that the data that you entrust with us remains yours and that we provide you with tools to delete and export your data,” explains Google Drive Director of Product Management Scott Johnston.

    In a post on the Google for Work blog, Head of Global Compliance Marc Crandall says:

    We continuously work with independent auditors to verify our data protection commitments. For example, over the years we’ve completed third-party SOC2 / SOC3 security audits and achieved ISO 27001 certification to provide transparency and accountability around our security procedures.

    The 27018 audit also validates that our Google Apps data protection commitments meet a rigorous international privacy and data protection standard. We think that this a great step forward for both our customers and for the industry. While laws and regulations vary from country to country, the principles set forth in the standard are widely recognized.

    Independent auditor Ernst & Young has verified Google’s privacy practices and contractual commitments for Google Apps for Work and Google Apps for Education comply with the new standard.

    Image via Google