Facebook Mandatory Timeline & Phone No.?
- Thread starter TheMatsjo
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Now, I don't even USE Facebook, but I understand a shitty idea when I see it. Exactly what the hell are we really verifying with something as unimportant as a Facebook account? I know they're used in business, but they don't have to and there are other better channels. This is just general paranoia for no good reason.
I willingly gave Facebook my mobile number after somebody brute forced the answer to my secret question to reset my password. The number giving was never forced, I saw the option and decided to go for it to ensure future account security. It's going to be automated, and I really don't care that they have my number as long as it's not used for marketing. In six months I have received zero spam so I guess it's safe.
As for the timeline, I really don't like it - ditto the newsfeed stuff that has been spamming away articles friends have been reading in newspapers and the like. Luckily I don't use Facebook much and entered hardly any information, the whole setup makes me very uneasy... especially as a large percentage of people are happy to pee away their personal privacy without thinking about the consequences.
As for the timeline, I really don't like it - ditto the newsfeed stuff that has been spamming away articles friends have been reading in newspapers and the like. Luckily I don't use Facebook much and entered hardly any information, the whole setup makes me very uneasy... especially as a large percentage of people are happy to pee away their personal privacy without thinking about the consequences.
What justifiable reason can there be to force users to supply an active phone no? I mean, if you care about the security, you can just apply for it voluntarily. If you don't want to be at risk of spam, include an fb option that ignores all signals from non-verified facebookers. Seems simple to me, and does not force a barrier to entry for persons lacking a phone, or who are conscious about what data they supply. It used to be optional, now it's becoming mandatory it seems I must reiterate here.GoaThief said:
But hey, great for you I guess.
Cheers.
I got sick of facebook a while ago and decided to stop using it at the start of last November and to be honest good riddance to it, the only people on there who I want to talk to are those I see in RL anyway its just a pointless timesink, I havent deleted my profile however that would take effort I just left it.
As for it wanting my phone number I would never give it that I would just give it a false one and if that is not feasible it would be a deal breaker for me even if I still used the site. I do not like giving out my personal details unless there is a strong justifiable reason i.e delivery companies need to know your address although I suppose I could send it to the local post office and pick it up from there but thats a hassle.
As for it wanting my phone number I would never give it that I would just give it a false one and if that is not feasible it would be a deal breaker for me even if I still used the site. I do not like giving out my personal details unless there is a strong justifiable reason i.e delivery companies need to know your address although I suppose I could send it to the local post office and pick it up from there but thats a hassle.
There is. Its a PITA process. Not really secret, Just know and this is the most important step. Once youve filed the request for deletion, you cannot log in to your profile through any means (even indirectly like thru trillian or mobile programs) or it rescinds the request.SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
However. its moot because technically, even doing this does not remove your data from their servers. Your profile is snapshotted and archived indefinitely. Granted it clears up your registered email address, general users cannot find it, you cannot access it, but facebook has unmitigated access to every single 1 and 0 that ever filtered into your profile.
Now I think it would be an excellent time seeings as the recent facebook IPO, for as many users as is humanly possible to delete their accounts and move to anything else different. (I hear myspace desperately wants you back) Facebook has been built on shady business practices pretty much out the gate and even though it is insanely profitable right now, pulling in over 1 billion per year now, yet do nothing for customers except hold server space. They really need to be reminded that they exist by no other reason than the good graces of the public. This is just yet another example in a long line of examples that clearly illustrates that they have done nothing to merit the favor of the public.
EDIT: And as for telephone number.. its not the only insane thing they do. I had at least 2 facebook profiles. One of which had been blocked by facebook because of it being suspected that I was not a real person. When I contacted facebook regarding this wishing to access my secondary profile it came to light that Facebook thinks you can only have 1 profile. Surely a person has no reason for multiple identities. Also, in facebooks view, that profile information must be valid. So as far as facebook is concerned, they do not want profile names like Gimlys axe, or pages dedicated to your cat. So how did facebook propose to resolve this? They wanted me to submit my drivers license to provide validation that I am in fact a real person. A company who has already had multiple privacy complaints, wanting information it has no right or reason to request. So promptly I sent them a copy of the McLovin Drivers license with that name scrawled out and my secondary profiles name scrawled in and told them, that as far as they know THIS is me, and they cannot prove otherwise. Seriously... what gives this organization the feeling they are entitled to know things about the people who use their service like this? Do they not realize this is helping to kill the internet by destroying anonymity?(yeah, i know its already dead now, but the illusion is at least still there, which is all that is really needed anyway) Does facebooks staff really think for a second they are secure enough to risk the personal information of 800 million users being extracted by hackers, crackers, and anyone with a little tech savvy? No these people need to be knocked down a peg or three.
No doubt it's just me being dull today but I could do with some elaboration;
As for the latter part inferring that I (or others who chose to submit a mobile number) don't care about privacy and/or data protection is somewhat silly and detracts from the subject at hand.
What does this mean? Could you give some practical examples too?TheMatsjo said:
As for the latter part inferring that I (or others who chose to submit a mobile number) don't care about privacy and/or data protection is somewhat silly and detracts from the subject at hand.
Well, if the verification is for security's sake, for the benefit of facebook users, then it would be far less intrusive to give an option to users to remain hidden from any unverified accounts. That's me being optimistic in assuming that this whole "security" thing was for the benefit of the user in the first place.GoaThief said:
If I inferred that it was on accident! I assure you I did not mean to come across that way; I was trying to make clear that not all information is equally public to me; some things I will put online, others I will not. My phone number I do not put online to a website with blatant and well-documented privacy problems, as well as the fact that it is a freakin' social networking site in no position to demand any information (as far as I'm concerned).