Maintaining a watchful eye is nothing new for business giants. Facedeals, a new application and service created on the open Facebook platform, offers to take a user’s picture as he or she enters participating restaurants. The application then grants discounts at the store in exchange for basic Facebook information. Freshman Jeffrey Kishiyama comments, “That’s a little creepy. It’s like [your online reputation] is following you in the real world.” Facedeals, although independent from the Facebook company, represents an astounding leap from website to reality on the Facebook platform, and it is not alone in its profit-seeking endeavors.
Even after years of immense popularity and growth, Facebook remains notorious for its alleged privacy infringements. A $15 billion lawsuit was filed against Facebook by privacy advocates in May, reports PC World. According to prosecutors, the implementation of “like” buttons on various sites across the web can track a person’s web footprint. They claim that Facebook’s conduct violates wiretapping laws, since information is allegedly exchanged even if the embedded “like” button remains unclicked. Coming as no surprise, the site continues to stress that it is merely a service for connecting people across the globe.
Questions about individual Facebook privacy are present within the Aragon student body. Many students know, to an extent, that their web footprints are tracked. “It’s a little strange how so many people can look at your information,” says sophomore Elena Ralls. “But I don’t worry about it because I don’t post anything bad.” Regarding her privacy settings, “I might check them annually.”
This publicity however, is often considered the appeal of social networks. “[Being tagged in photos] makes me feel special and popular,” says freshman Teague Bredl.
The idea of hiding one’s identity while gaining the social benefits of Facebook is nothing new. Many users choose to have false names, misleading profile pictures, or multiple accounts for different people to see. Junior Paige McLoughlin says, “People do this because they don’t trust their parents or family with this information, or they might need alone time.”
Although a legal guardian can regulate their child’s physical interactions to an extent, no such threshold exists online. Ralls says, “When I first got a Facebook my parents made me set up the privacy settings so that only my friends could view my stuff. Now, they don’t really check what I post or if I have changed the settings.” In fact, control for parents continues to deteriorate as kids receive web-capable electronics of their own.
Widespread internet access among youth is not limited to social connectivity or entertainment, as most businesses and organizations have realized. Data mining is the practice of gathering information in order to gain insight on a particular market or demographic. Since almost every moment of a user’s actions on a social network is tracked, Facebook remains a common platform for data mining. “The quantity of data is so large on Facebook,” says science teacher Arron Apperson.
Adds Ralls, “Facebook sells your information so that they can make money. Information is like a commodity.”
Employers and universities can use this information as well. They can look up an applicant’s name and find a bevy of information about his personal life. “Colleges can see what you do in your free time and find a responsible person,” says Ralls. “But there are some pros and cons to this. They should only see what you choose to keep public.”
At Aragon, some teachers can be found on social networks. Apperson says, “It’s personal preference about whether [teachers] have a Facebook or not. Facebook is a way to stay in contact with people and make them feel like they’re included in my life. I also use it as a teaching tool. It lets me collaborate with other teachers.”
Likewise, students have a choice about creating a Facebook account. “People choose to not have an account because they don’t want future jobs to judge them for past decisions,” says McLoughlin. “They aren’t interested in having such a responsibility.”
As a corporate giant, Facebook’s internet presence remains pervasive. One billion users visit the site each month, Zuckerberg said early October. As its database grows and its user base becomes increasingly dependent, its place in the social sphere could be more powerful than most expect. Apperson says, “[Facebook] has rationalizations for [gathering data], but am I happy about it? No. Do I modify my behavior because of it? Yes.”
Adds McLoughlin, “The internet is forever. It’s not something that I’m happy about, but if you put yourself out there you’d better be ready.” In fact, Facebook holds innumerable bytes of photos, status updates, and ad histories. In the end, the site dictates who views this data and who does not.
