social media privacy? you're funny.

facebook. diaspora. google+. blah. blah. blah.

there has been a lot of talk over the last few years about social media and privacy: how information is taken, how information is used, and how information is shared. it seems like such talk has only intensified now that google+ seems to have become what diaspora couldn't: a widely adopted social networking competitor to facebook. some say google+ has better controls. some say facebook does. i see the volleys going back and forth on twitter, as well as on technology news and opinion websites, about who has the better privacy controls.

i shake my head in astonishment that people care so much. the idea that anything you post on a social networking site is going to remain private, no matter how tightly controlled your privacy settings, circles, or whatever else you want to call them...that's naive, and nothing short of laughable. there is no such thing as social media privacy.

am i saying that this is reason not to use social networking sites? no.

i'm an avid user of social networking sites. i'm hopelessly addicted to twitter and facebook, and google+ is swiftly approaching that top tier of my social networking hierarchy. i post more information than most people do to such sites...my name, the city in which i live, my google voice phone number, what college i attended, whatever silliness i felt like ranting about on the way to work that morning? it's all there, and it's all on the internet. i have certain "privacy" controls set, like circles-only on google+ or friends only on facebook, but i know full well that the information may seep outside that range of people: either by a data breach, by some stranger shoulder-surfing a friend of mine who is reading my social networking posts, or any one of a million other ways that information could leak out.

of course, the only concern isn't other individuals reading your information -- there's also the issue of the site leveraging or selling various information you post in order to target ads and make money. the social networking sites may try to tell you that they're going to protect your privacy, or give you certain rights to your information, but those rules may change at any time. (case in point -- the twitpic terms of service kerfuffle.) available privacy controls and data use rules may change at any time. furthermore, sites may be not entirely truthful about how accessible your information is, or who they're selling your information to. it's not in their interests to protect your data. the only one who cares in the least about how well your information is protected, or how accessible your information is, is you.

in short, no matter what privacy controls i set, i don't post anything to a social networking site that i wouldn't post to something completely public. that's the only meaningful privacy control there is, as far as your data getting posted on the internet: if you don't want a certain piece of information out there, take your hands off that keyboard, get off the social networking site, and don't post that piece of information on the internet, anywhere. if you post your information on a social networking site, and then whine that it has been misappropriated or misused, i've got no pity for you.

am i saying that every single piece of information that is used anywhere online is public information? no.

posting on social networking sites, blogging sites, things meant for people to read is one thing...conducting sensitive business such as banking, online shopping, or anything involving medical records is another. in those cases, there should be strict auditing and oversight of privacy policies and data retention, and legal recourse when information is misused. it's analogous to real life: if you're carrying on a transaction with a brick and mortar bank, store accepting credit cards, doctor, or the like...you have a reasonable expectation that the institution isn't going to misappropriate the information necessary to complete the transaction, and should not have to give up that expectation because you're doing that bit of business on the internet.

whereas, if you're at the coffee house hanging out with some friends or acquaintances, and you share a piece of information out loud, there's not a thing you can do about someone else overhearing what you say, or someone in your conversation spreading that as gossip to someone else. if you're telling a friend a secret in the comfort of your own living room, even, there's nothing you can do to stop it if your friend turns around and tells someone else the secret, or someone was surreptitiously listening through your window. you can get mad, you can get annoyed, but the only way you could truly prevent it is by not divulging that bit of information in the first place.

it's the same thing with social networks: if you don't want it to get out there, don't say it in the first place.