Surprise! Wife's face used in Facebook singles ad
Posted: Tuesday, July 28 2009 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
"Hey Peter," the ad said. "Hot singles are waiting for you!!" He might have dismissed the advertisement, which appeared on his Facebook page, but for one thing.
The woman pictured in the ad was his wife.
The Lynchburg, Va., man had no doubts that his marriage was a happy one, so he figured some other kind of mischief must be at play. There was: privacy mischief.
A brief investigation uncovered this uncomfortable truth: Cheryl Smith's picture had been swooped up by a company advertising with the social media giant and used to generate an advertisement. She had no idea her image could be used that way, and until her husband spotted the ad, she was unaware that she'd become a model for an online dating company.
"Fortunately, he has a sense of humor. Otherwise it could have played out very differently," Smith, 44, said.
Facebook has a long and tortured history of attempting highly targeted advertising by mining data and usage habits from users. In 2007, the site began tracking user purchases and sharing the information with other Facebook users. After a protest, the practice was quickly abandoned. More recently, a flap over changes to Facebook's terms of service led to an online eruption, and another reversal.
In this case, first spotted by Smith on July 13, Facebook blames the incident on the third-party company, which it says was violating its policies.
"The ads that spooked people were from rogue networks that have been dealt with," said spokesman Barry Schnitt. "The ads were removed, some ad networks were banned from Facebook, and developers were warned."
Schnitt wouldn't reveal what company created the Smith ad, but said it had received a warning.
Focus on privacy settings
The Smith incident, which got some traction on blogs and first attracted mass media attention last week from CNBC.com, has again focused attention on Facebook's privacy settings. A hard-to-spot toggle switch now in Facebook users’ settings page grants the firm, by default, permission to use consumers' information in advertisements to their friends. Users who want out of the arrangement must manually switch the setting, called "Appearance in Facebook Ads," to "No One."
But even if her toggle were set correctly, Smith wouldn't have been able to prevent her brief stint as a dating site model, Schnitt said. The toggle only control special “social” ads that are directly under Facebook's control. These ads essentially rebroadcast items that users have already agreed to place on their public wall space. The most common social ad takes this format: "Bob has recently become a fan of msnbc.com's Elkhart Project. Do you want to become a fan?" Those ads have been on the site for about a year, according to Facebook.
But ads that appear in third-party applications, or in other places on the site, aren't governed by the toggle, Schnitt said. That means users who are concerned about the Schnitt incident shouldn’t bother changing their settings.
Schnitt agreed the Smith advertisement was disturbing, and said the company took it down as quickly as possible. While another “rogue” third party could pull a similar stunt, he said the firm is “aggressively enforcing” its terms and conditions with advertisers. The site will not permit any ads that mislead consumers or misuse user data or photos.
“We’re not going to let people misuse the Facebook platform,” he said.
Free comes at a cost
The company is trying to walk a fine line between creating relevant ads, while avoiding ads that are spook or anger its users.
"This is absolutely new territory. There aren't long established policies and procedures for this. So we're going to have to continue to educate people about it," he said.
Ironically, Smith -- who runs CultureSmithConsulting.com, where she is blogging about the experience – gives advice on social media for a living. She thinks these kinds of incidents are simply part of life for consumers who use "free" Internet sites.
"The fact that it's free, meaning it comes at no financial cost, doesn't mean there aren't other costs associated with it," she said. "This is one of those potential costs."
That's why consumers need to focus extra attention on privacy settings for all free sites they use. It's difficult, if not impossible, to control what information a company may grant to third parties, and whether or not those third parties will follow agree-upon rules.
RED TAPE WRESTLING TIPS
If you still want to change the privacy toggle and prevent your actions on Facebook from appearing in ads to other users, follow this click trail: Settings=>Privacy=>News Feed and Wall=>Facebook Ads. Then select "No one."
Facebook says consumers who think ads are invasive ads should either click on the thumbs down arrow near the ad, or click "report this" and tap out a complaint.
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Didn’t you know? Facebook is forever
Posted: Friday, February 20 2009 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
I know a computer science professor who runs the same Facebook experiment every semester. He invites his students to stand up in front of the room and show everyone their Facebook page on the big screen. No one has ever taken him up on the offer.
Why? They’re embarrassed, of course.
Moments later, the irony sinks in. Every one of them seems happy to share all those funny photographs, witty Wall postings and status updates with everyone on the planet. They just don't want to do it in public, in person.
Facebook puts a lot of people in a lot of twisted situations, including those who try to rationalize their use of the site (Want to be safer on Facebook? There are tips below).
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Auto insurance dilemma: Privacy or discounts?
Posted: Thursday, November 27 2008 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
New gadgets that can be installed under the hood let insurance companies know much more about your driving habits. Discounts of up to 25 percent can follow. But privacy advocates say those who sign up have Big Brother riding in the passenger seat. Produced by NBC's Andrew Gross and Coleen Sanvido, with graphics by Patrick Longstreth.Watch the video.
You can also read a text version of the story that appeared recently in Red Tape Chronicles.
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The trouble with 'deep packet inspection'
Posted: Thursday, October 16 2008 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Deep down, most Net users realize that everything they do online can be watched and tracked. Most, however, forget this on a day-to-day basis. That's why a new technology called deep packet inspection is potentially very disturbing.
The data is already dismal when it comes to people peeking at your Internet travels. Twenty percent of U.S. companies hire employees specifically to snoop at employee e-mail and 41 percent perform some kind of e-mail monitoring, according to a survey published earlier this year by Proofpoint. Two-thirds of companies monitor Web surfing, and 12 percent even monitor outside blog activity. Even if your company doesn't watch you as a matter of policy, employees might be sneaking a peek anyway. In a survey published in June by security firm Cyber-Ark, one-third of IT workers confessed to abusing their administrative passwords to read colleagues’ e-mail and compare salaries, and the like.
Still, people at work often realize their time is not their own, and their expectation of privacy -- at least according to under U.S. law -- is low. But now, a technology called deep packet inspection offers similar kind of monitoring capabilities that can be used on all Internet users -- at home, at work, even when using mobile devices.
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Interactive maps reveal crime next door
Posted: Sunday, October 5 2008 at 05:51 pm CT by Bob Sullivan
(VIDEO: Click here to watch the latest Red Tape video.)
Think there's a lot of crime in your neighborhood? Now there's an easy way to find out. In this latest Red Tape Chronicles video, we explore the fast-growing segment of Web sites that marry police data to interactive maps, allowing residents to easily check up on their neighborhood's crime rate.
You can watch the video by clicking here. It was produced by NBC's Colleen Sanvido with help from Andrew Gross, and edited by David Bentley. The three-dimensional graphics come courtesty of NBC's Patrick Longstreth.
To read more about the crime-mapping services, click on this earlier entry.
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Will drivers trade privacy for discounts?
Posted: Tuesday, September 9 2008 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Low-mileage drivers who install this gadget in their cars could get a discount from their insurance company in exchange for letting the firm track some of their driving behavior.
Of all the things that seem unfair about auto insurance, this is perhaps the worst: Infrequent drivers who log less than 5,000 miles a year, are charged roughly the same as long-distance commuters who cover 30,000 miles a year.
High-tech advances may end this inequity soon, but the cure could be worse than the disease – if it’s not carefully regulated. Occasional drivers will soon have a chance to lower their insurance rates, but only if they agree to extensive electronic tracking of their driving habits.
New gadgets installed in cars will be able to tell insurers how many miles drivers have logged, what times of the day they drive, and even how frequently they abruptly stop and start. Other incarnations of the technology involve GPS devices that can even tell insurers precisely where drivers have traveled, and if they obeyed local speed limits.
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Was Palin's SSN published on Web?
Posted: Friday, September 5 2008 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Part of vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's Social Security number apparently was published on the Web earlier this week, stirring up privacy concerns. The data – labeled as the first five digits of the candidate’s SSN – is widely available from background services like ChoicePoint or LexisNexis. In fact, such partial SSNs routinely appear on reports anyone could obtain on their neighbor or their nanny.
A report of the Palin SSN leak Tuesday on the Politico.com Web site evoked memories of a scandal in 2006 that erupted after Democratic staffers obtained Republican Senate candidate Michael Steele’s credit report. But the incident involving Palin bears few similarities.
The first five digits of Palin's SSN appeared in a document posted on Politico, which described the paper as an "opposition document" compiled in 2006 on behalf of Tony Knowles, her Democratic opponent in Alaska's gubernatorial race that year.
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A new way to 'spy' on neighbors?
Posted: Tuesday, September 2 2008 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
"See who your neighbors are," says the breathless e-mail from FelonSpy.com, promising to expose “all the people close to your home that have been convicted of ANY felonies.”
Click on the link and enter your address, and you’ll see a highly detailed Google map with red pins/balloons on it, each containing an offender’s name, age and felony offense.
If you haven’t seen an e-mail like this already, you will soon.
Unfortunately for the criminally curious, FelonSpy.com is a hoax. The realistic-looking arrest data plotted on it is randomly generated, says the site author, who spoke with msnbc.com on the condition of anonymity. But the persistence of the gag, which was dispelled by hoax-busting Web site Snopes.com in February, speaks to how curious American are about their neighbors and about neighborhood crime. And while FelonySpy.com isn't real, a host of new Web sites offering maps with just slightly less detailed crime data are trying to capitalize on our seemingly endless appetite for the old-fashioned police blotter.
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Make 'Dear John' data letters meaningful
Posted: Friday, August 22 2008 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
I like to call them "Dear John" data letters. And just like those sad, cold notes from a lover announcing a breakup, those "We've lost your data" letters are almost always frustratingly vague.
A new study from identity theft research firm ID Analytics suggests that's both unfair and risky. The study shows that consumers victimized by insider data theft -- theft by an employee -- are 12 times more likely to be ultimately hit by fraud than victims of an accidental data loss, like a lost laptop computer.
Yet many Dear John data letters announcing security breaches offer precious few details about the circumstances of the loss. That leaves consumers completely in the dark about what to do.
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Want to come upstairs and see my credit score?
Posted: Tuesday, August 19 2008 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
When should you do it? On the third date? After meeting her parents? Half-way through the first date? When it just feels right? One thing is certain: you shouldn’t wait until you get married.
The idea of asking a new significant other about his or her credit score probably makes you squeamish, but it’s a subject that ultimately unavoidable. Just as you inherit in-laws when you tie the knot, you inherit credit history too. But unlike family ties, it can be nearly impossible to sever yourself from bad credit.
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Two lives, one Social Security number
Posted: Tuesday, May 27 2008 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Like arriving home to see a broken window, Holli knew something was wrong when she pulled up the statement from her new 401(k) account and saw a stranger's name there. Under her name and account information, she found a second name: Paulino Rodriguez. But was it an accident, random vandalism or a serious crime? She opened the virtual door to her account and sorted through the broken glass. Her worst fears would soon be confirmed.
After some frantic research, Holli pieced together part of the story. Rodriguez, the 401(k) Web site revealed, lived in Escondido, Calif., about 90 minutes south of Holli’s home in Fountain Valley. He was a restaurant worker in an Escondido Burger King. This was no prank -- though Holli would soon feel like several government agencies, corporations and a criminal were having fun at her expense. She was a victim of something experts call Social Security number-only identity theft, generally committed by immigrants who don’t have the necessary credentials to work legally in the U.S.
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EU strikes a blow against data hoarding
Posted: Friday, April 11 2008 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Have you ever wondered why companies that collect your personal information seem to keep it forever? The European Union is wondering too.
European privacy officials published an opinion last week (in PDF format) that could have far-reaching impacts on data hoarding, stating that search engines must delete consumer information within six months.
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Data voyeurism is common
Posted: Friday, March 21 2008 at 02:13 pm CT by Bob Sullivan
If you think the State Department passport privacy debacle is an oddity, it isn’t. Data voyeurism is actually a sign of the times. Low-level employees at government agencies and private companies browse personal information for sport all the time. Outside of the occasional public flogging, little has been done to stop this unnerving practice.
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Hit by ID theft, then plagued by Sprint
Posted: Friday, March 7 2008 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
You might call it a friends, family and ID thieves plan.
Last year, identity thieves wormed their way into Michael Carner’s Sprint account, tacked on 14 new cell phones and began ringing up phone charges. Even though he reported the intrusion, things only got worse. For nearly a year, the real estate agent was hit with late fees, frequent automated collections calls, service interruptions, and a $5,000 bill.
When Carner finally gave up and tried to cancel his account, Sprint had one more piece of bad news: The imposters had extended his service contract for two years, meaning he'd have to pay a $200 early termination fee to get out of his contract.
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Which firms have the most ID theft victims?
Posted: Friday, February 29 2008 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Who's to blame for the ID theft epidemic? Surprisingly, given all the attention the subject receives, we know strikingly little about the root causes of the problem. ID theft is often called the fastest-growing crime in America, but there's precious little research into which companies have the worst security measures and which suffer the most data leaks.
Researcher Chris Hoofnagle thinks it's high time we started pointing fingers.
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