Very O.T. Facebook and Privacy

[Delaware Dave]

This past week I've heard of two eerie issues ...

 

1) DanL, one of our Music Player colleagues, reported this: "..Today I was working on a computer over at the shop where they maintain the town vehicles. The shop manager was talking to me about having to get a radiator from IG Burton in Milford. I logged onto FB right now and what is the ad I see? IG Burton in Milford..."

 

2) Yesterday one of our employees who is new to our site was speaking on the phone to a real estate agent about setting up an appointment to start the house searching process. Later in the day ads from the real estate company start showing up in her Facebook while checking using a company computer; the call to the realtor was made on her phone and the company computer was not part of that mix.

 

How much is big brother watching? I'd be interested in understanding how the connections are made with Facebook.

[Mike Martin]

 

 

What kind of phone do you have?

 

[Old No7]

My son has either Alexa, Siri or one of those other SPY modules ("Chaos" maybe??) in his kitchen and he says that ads for things "They briefly talked about in the house" -- but while not talking directly "to the spy" -- will occasionally show up on his pages later.

 

I won't allow it in the house and am the "unidentified older gentleman" on my kid's FB pages -- and proud of it.

 

Old No7

 

 

[KuruPrionz]

Some things that are helpful in my experience.

 

First, I am not sure about today but about a year ago I created a fake email account (use a different "brand" than your primary email - if you use gmail primarlily then make the fake account on Yahoo or anywhere).

Next, create a Facebook account using only the email address - do not provide a phone number (or if you are the last person in America with a landline, use the landline number). You may see some spam ads on that email account but so what?

 

Second, do not log into Facebook on your phone, ever. Once you've done that, privacy is over.

 

Third is the "scorched Earth solution". Since you don't know who is tracking your phone and/or if their servers will ever be hacked (Facebook admitted to having 50 million accounts hacked last September), simply do not use your phone as an internet connection. Do not log into anything, do not pay with a credit card on your phone, do not enter any password to any site, ever. This includes logging onto Facebook, any Google service, Apple, etc.

 

Fourth, if using a computer to log into any webpage, first unplug your computer from the internet and compile a list of passwords. Put it in a folder named something entirely different, copy that do an SD card or USB thumb and delete it from your primary computer. Then you can plug/log back into tthe internet.

 

When you need to log on to an important account that has your credit card information like Amazon or Paypal, put the card in, open the folder and COPY AND PASTE the password into the site login. Remove the widget with the password folder immediately after copying the password. By copyng and pasting, if you have a bug on your computer that tracks your keystrokes, they will get nothing.

 

I decided that I didn't need Facebook for anything and deleted my account. I never log onto my internet with my phone, have never used any passwords on it.

Life is peaceful, I don't miss it at all.

 

Pretty extreme, I know. So is the scrutiny you are under. If you trust the security of sites that time has shown it is not safe to trust, expect problems. Sadly, yes - we are under the microscope, all of us. Cheers, Kuru

[Stokely]

Privacy is one reason I dumped FB. It's a crap company (and it's not alone) and overall the benefits to me of using it were not worth supporting a company like that. And I personally found it adding little beneficial to my life, on balance (like cable news, I found it riled me up more than it helped or informed me.) I think social media is a blight on society in general, but people are going to do what they will, I can only act for me.

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

I don't have either Facebook or a smartphone, so I dodge the bulk of the spying apps. Probably not all of them though.

 

I dislike and distrust Facebook so much that I won't even look at it from my own computer or laptop; I do it only on one of the shared computers at the office. Obviously, not being a member, I can't see everything... But if I am checking up on a band or seeing who is playing at my favorite bars, it shows me most of what I need to see. As long as they don't make a last-minute change on Saturday when I'm not at the office.

[Song80s]

Big brother , if that's what you want to call the government, has had the ability to monitor telecommunications, etc etc since the 80's/90's.

 

When everyone jumped on getting ' mobile phones' in the late 80's/90's is when the door swung wide open.

[Outkaster]

It's really not the serious. If you run a band SM is a necessary evil. How do people find out about your gigs then?? I don't like being on it everyday but it's good for relatives overseas for example. I think it's good for musicians to network. If someone really wants your information it's easy to get.

[Stokely]

One example: Facebook has been after banks for quite awhile to get them to give it user info. I don't care how many times they promise they won't misuse the information.

 

My #1 problem with all SM is the way it helps spread misinformation. They have no motive to shut this down, it generates revenue for them. We are killing ourselves with this crap IMO.

 

All that said--I get why bands have to be on it. Necessary evil for some people. Just not for me. I found it surprisingly difficult to quit as well, which told me that the need to "check in" all the time probably wasn't a healthy one.

[GRollins]

I know I'm a little weird, but the name of the device is "telephone," which translates as far-sound. That's what I use it for...to talk to people. The only other thing I do with my phone is take pictures.

 

I've got a Facebook account, but I never answered any questions that were not necessary to start the account; I needed at least a rudimentary presence on the web so people could find me as an author...and they have done so from time to time. Interestingly, even without me telling FB things, they've figured out quite a bit on their own. However, they're not able to figure out what I like (other than music) and they're not quite sure where I live, although they've got it down to the general area. They're still hunting for me, though, make no mistake. I'm not going to make it easy.

 

Grey

[J. Dan]

I found a really cool app on my phone. Apparently everybody with a smart phone has a unique 10 digit ID. If you know their ID, you can punch it in and it will allow you to hear them and speak to them Ike they were right there in the room. I know at least iPhone and Android have this app, not sure about the others.

 

[Doerfler]

I found a really cool app on my phone. Apparently everybody with a smart phone has a unique 10 digit ID. If you know their ID, you can punch it in and it will allow you to hear them and speak to them Ike they were right there in the room.

 

 

 

 

[CowboyNQ]

I've got a Facebook account, but I never answered any questions that were not necessary to start the account...

I did the same thing. I resisted Facebook for years but eventually succumbed last year as I really need it to communicate effectively with the cricket and football teams that I coach.

 

However as Facebook knows nothing about me other than name and DOB, I am constantly getting ads pushed at me for Tinder and similar dating apps (I've been happily married for 24 years). It has also worked out I like music but I don't mind that.

 

[Docbop]

The major corporations monitoring people and invading our privacy worse than the government these days. Anything with a microphone and/or a camera is monitoring you and sending the data back when device is connected or internet. If you car has GPS it's transmitting info on your driving habits and with GPS is keeping driving info that get dumped when you take it to the dealer for maintenance. Search engines like Google collect info on what you search for same with Amazon and other sites everything you type or click is be monitor and later sold as marketing data. Three of the major banks sell their customer data and one of the companies that buys it is Google, why does a search engine company want your financial data??? Worse part is the insurance industry is buying a lot of this data and your health insurance and other types use the data in decide if they will insure you and what rates to charge you. One of the computer user groups I used to belong to had a few talks on computer security and one of the main speakers was a doctor. The doctor outline how much medical data is either input wrong, or input intentionally wrong so they can get more from your health insurance company. The doctor talked about one patient had a genetic trait that is normal and basically nothing to worry about. Then the patient got notices from his health insurance company he was being dropped and other insurance companies wouldn't insure him for have a life threatening pre-existing condition. After a lot of work it was discovered the person from the medical transcription service had put the wrong code in for what the trait the patient had and put in the code from the related life threatening disease. The doctor is one who said some medical groups the staff will put other codes in for similar issue that insurance companies pay doctors more for.

 

To me the problem is we don't own our personal data so people all over the world collect it and sell it to marketing companies and other governments. If I had my way I would change the law so personal info is automatically copyrighted. Then companies would have to get permission to collect your data and have to pay royalties if they make money from that data. Not a lot can be done to protect yourself. Limiting what you say on social media and avoid using social media from a smartphone helps. Smartphone and smart TV's and other "smart" devices are the biggest snoops so watch what you do and where you do it. Try using hardwired connections to computers versus WIFI and VPN's help but be sure it a reputable VPN company.

[J. Dan]

[aellison62]

J.Dead, you made me spit my coffee out this morning !! :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

[Baldwin Funster]

Who needs privacy. Nearly every sin is either legal or fully tolerated. At this moment the only shameful behavior is kiddie you know what. Since all other barriers have fallen that one will likely fall too. And I mean FALL. As in the fall of civilization. I'm not surprised it happened. Just that it could happen in about 60 years. And most of it in the last 30.

[Stokely]

I personally don't care about sin. Kids today don't seem any more sinful than when I was a kid...my kids probably less so since they are band nerds

 

I very much care about what Docbop is writing about, in particular people losing insurance coverage based on genetics. It sounds like Gattica or any number of other dystopian sci-fi--but that doesn't mean it isn't happening or could. I trust corporations FAR less than I do the government (for one thing, government tends to be inefficient, so they'd probably put my info into a box next to the Ark of the Covenant and forget about it.)

 

I also care about misinformation. George Orwell wrote his novels in part after "fake news" that happened during the spanish civil war (articles about battles that never happened etc). Wonder what he'd think about social media?

 

I care about bullying and trolling. It's easy for me as an older white dude to shrug off an internet troll. Not so much for a younger person who gets piled on by basement trolls taking glee in others' misfortune. These apps let bullies run wild, and everyone spew the current contents of their id out for the world to see (and that horse is gone from the barn, no backsies). Very few of these people would say the things they do to someone directly. (And yes I get the irony of posting this on a forum...but it's moderated and that is a good thing.)

 

The inventor of the internet just did an interview, quote from the article: "The inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee, has warned that the online harassment of women and girls is threatening global progress towards gender equality. Berners-Lee, who created the web in 1989, said he was 'seriously concerned' about the long-term impact of online gendered abuse."

 

Sucks because social media and the internet in general could be so awesome. Instead they are overrun with trolls and advertisers.

[Old No7]

Berners-Lee, who created the web in 1989...

Wait.... What ? ! You mean it wasn't Al ? ! ? !

 

Old No7

 

[TommyBoy]

No Social Media for me now for over a decade. Never been happier.

[Mr. Nightime]

I'm OK with some SM. I can see it as a tool if used properly.

 

What I can't stand, and I AM NOT GETTING POLITICAL, is seeing all these posts from people that I care for and respect that are spewing divisionist vitriol. Seeing this angers me, but I don't want to block them because they are actually friends, many of which I have played in bands with.

 

What I want is some form of content filter, where I can have it remove the posts that anger me, without blocking the person.

 

Yes. I've noticed how there will be ads that correspond to what I'm been talking about. In some instances, it's actually welcome, like my recent interest in replacing my hearing aids.

[Outkaster]

I'd like to see some one run a really successful band without social media. See how well you do.

[Stokely]

I'm OK with some SM. I can see it as a tool if used properly.

 

What I can't stand, and I AM NOT GETTING POLITICAL, is seeing all these posts from people that I care for and respect that are spewing divisionist vitriol. Seeing this angers me, but I don't want to block them because they are actually friends, many of which I have played in bands with.

 

What I want is some form of content filter, where I can have it remove the posts that anger me, without blocking the person.

 

Yes. I've noticed how there will be ads that correspond to what I'm been talking about. In some instances, it's actually welcome, like my recent interest in replacing my hearing aids.

 

Yes. End of the day, sometimes you really don't want to know every spewed thought from people you know. And worse, from people THEY know.

 

Bands have to be on FB, I get it. My band is on FB and it's just something we have to do. I'm the only one that truly despises it so it's ok, because I don't have to post on it or read anything. I still use FB for one purpose--our band has a private group and uses it for our calendar and communication. It's actually pretty funny when a friend (who follows our band) will come up and say "hey, nice vid of you all playing at Joe's!" Me: "There's a vid of us playing?? The more you know!"

 

[mate stubb]

I have over 400 FB friends. 390 of them were requests from others, so I accept their friendship but immediately unfollow them. We are then friends, they can PM me if necessary, and I don't have to see any of the drivel they post.

 

I only follow 5 to 10 friends, and don't see anybody else's posts. I have FB friends who are cousins who are rabidly opposed to my politics, but I don't follow them either.