Quit Facebook Day

Facebook has been hit hard lately with criticisms of its privacy controls. As customers need to vote with their feet, there is a movement to quit Facebook. Quit Facebook Day is the brainchild of two Canadians, Joseph Dee and Matthew Milan and, at the time of this writing, over 27,000 users have pledged to leaving the social networking Web site. Although this number is quite small, representing less than 0.006% of the 500 million users, it sends a message to the social media giant that people are taking their privacy seriously, as they should.


Here are some Facebook policies:

• "We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile." They are going to augment your profile with items that you have not sanctioned to be part of your profile.
• "We may share your information with third parties, including responsible companies with which we have a relationship." They are going to give your information to organizations that they deem responsible (guess that's the way they make money.

Are you okay with the above? I'm not and that it why I left Facebook several months ago. I came across a good article about protecting privacy on Facebook. I would urge all Facebookers to read it - Symantec Tips For Guarding Facebook Privacy.

Facebook has taken notice of the issue of privacy and is trying to address concerns about consolidating privacy controls onto one page, the ability to block others from seeing your profile, and the ability to opt-out of using Facebook platform which delivers games, quizzes and other activities to Facebook users. 

Obviously, "Quit Facebook Day"is not going to bring down Facebook as most users are happy with its privacy settings. Facebook does provide a fun way to stay connected with family and friends but awareness of this issue is important to all Facebook users.