Social media and privacy

Shelly Palmer blogs about privacy and Twitter, as regards marketing companies mining the data:

But those systems pale in comparison to the kinds of data we’re giving about ourselves on personalized media like social networks and Twitter. Imagine if through some sort of Semantic Web application a company could glean information not only on what info you offered, and tags you’d left, but also the things you were passionate about, what you’d been writing and saying, asking for and complaining about. Imagine if the company could handle the complaint or fuel the delight of that passionate, highly involved (ok, “engaged”) fan — how much might she crow about you, then, an not only increase her loyalty but also help spur others into the fold?

Then a report that aspiring applicants to colleges may be using Facebook to sabatoge in other potential classmates.

And finally a report (in Hungarian, alas) reporting an “exploit” in Twitter. It’s really simple, actually. Apparently subscribing to a feed of a friend of a person who has a “protected status” (meaning, only friends can see what they’re saying) provides a view into the “protected” conversation. A yawn compared to the current top-of-mind exploit, but it’s worth noting, in case you haven’t noticed: There is no privacy.

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