"Hover over my name" - yet another Facebook hoax

Undoubtedly, in the "golden age" of social networking and the ability to share online, privacy is becoming more and more of a concern to the cyber-savvy society. Unfortunately, there are spammers and hoaxes who capitalize on this fear to fuel their ulterior motives....

Now, when I start seeing multiple cut-and-paste postings from my friends, its usually something very, very usually (like the Gangnam style thing from PSY) or a chain letter / hoax. Unless, of course, you have the web presence and following of someone like Lady Gaga.

Since I first started using the internet (thanks to Telekom Malaysia, TMNET 1515), my Inbox has always been on a staple diet of spam and "chain letters". Spam, which comes from some unknown source and usually has no relevance whatsoever. Like trying to sell size-enhancing products for various body parts.... :)

Unlike spam mail, chain letters are practically propagated by actual friends and family members, who are acting in their best of intentions, but alas as just acting out the intentions of others like pawns in a chess game. I used to see a chain mail being forwarded, and forwarded, and forwarded multiple times - almost as if someone were trying for a shot a the Guiness Book of World Records (sometimes, being famous is not always a good thing).

There are many, many motivations that drive the momentum of chain letters. Used to be the "forward this to 10 people and get $$$" which thrives on the basic instinct of greed. Then there a switch in tactics to pity and compassion - "each time you forward this, $$$ will be donated to XXX". Now the latest modus operandi is to prey on the great fear of the modern internet generation - online privacy.

The latest one I see circulating on Facebook goes something like this:

To all my contacts, friends, I request from you, that with the recent changes in FB, now anyone can see things from people who are not in your contacts list. Just because a contact of yours makes a comment or "likes" in some activity of that person. I do not want people to contact me, and would like that they do not read and see all my comments and stuff, but I can not change this myself because facebook has configured it this way. But you can do it for me.

1) PLEASE place your mouse over my name above (do not click), a window will appear 

2) move the mouse on "Friends" (also without clicking),

3) move down to "Settings", click here and a list will appear.

4) Click "Comments and Like" and it would thereby remove/untick the CHECK.

By doing this my activity amongst my friends and my family does not become public. A Thousand Thanks! Paste this on your wall for your contacts, if you care about your privacy!!!

This is believable, as there is some truth to the content. However, in the end, it's not as straightforwards as it seems, as the underlying mechanics behind the privacy policies of Facebook as a little complicated. You can read more on the details if you're interested in an excellent post by Jon Loomer at : http://www.jonloomer.com/2012/01/17/facebook-privacy-dont-hover-over-my-name-do-this-instead/

Now, a slight note on online privacy. In this day and age, there is no real privacy in the truest sense. The fact that "on line" comes into the picture means that there is already some storage point outside of your physical network where your content is stored. A file on your thumbdrive is private - a file on a server somewhere in the world is not. All you have is someone's word that they will not share your content to the public unless you give them permission to do so. It is like giving your house keys to the security guard (for those of you who live in gated communities). Yes, even putting money in the bank or stuff in their safe deposit box is the same - it is up to you to act based on how much trust you have in the other party.

Back to the online community. Now, when people start blogging, the logical conclusion is that they would like to share something with the rest of the world. It makes no sense to blog if you're the only one who can access it, after all. Of course, at some point, we all like to share, some things more than others. However, the word "share" here is somewhat misleading itself, since when I share my laptop, for example, it is either with me or with you. In the end, there is just one laptop. But, when I share something online, I am actually giving you a COPY of my content, since I can never take it back and the content can be duplicated, copied and so on.

Thus, what you put online today has the potential to become public domain at any time, either intentionally, or otherwise. Now, as I learned from a workshop some years ago, "Trust is giving someone the power to completely destroy you". Now, from a logical point of view, it would be unwise to give such power to anyone. Time has a way of changing things, and though I sincerely hope that this does not happen to anyone, the truth is that when lovers become enemies, friends become foes, that which was held in the deepest confidence would no longer be safe from the eyes of the public. We have all seen one too many cases of celebrities (predominantly from the US, but some Asians once in awhile) and even members of royalty being victims of "leaked photographs". It is sad that they have been betrayed by those who they have entrusted. Not talking about those who do this intentionally for publicity, though....

It's one thing to take photos and selectively upload them later. But now we have the latest IT fad of "Cloud Computing" where everything is instantly uploaded to a central server somewhere. Like Instagram (not my choice because of this), which was recently acquired by Facebook (another blow in the name of online privacy).

To summarize my point on "online privacy", that's somewhat of a impossibility (like a Perpetual Motion Machine). So, do think wisely before you post something online.

These days, it seems like the only way to true privacy is to keep a hard copy under lock-and-key...! :)