Perhaps Facebook isn’t here to stay — at least based on the reactions of half of the country toward the seemingly super pervasive social network. About 50% of Americans think Facebook is just a passing fad, according to a new poll. It follows, then, in the build-up to its initial public stock offering, that half also say its expected asking price is too high. [More]
Data & Privacy
Great, Soon People Will Be Paying To Promote Annoying Posts On Facebook
By 5.11.12
There are already enough posts we don’t need to see on Facebook “Going to the bank and then the gym and wow isn’t this day great oh by the way I’m breathing and I have 23 pairs of chromosomes lol,” and now the social network is going to go ahead and let people pay to promote or highlight what they’re yakking about. Get ready for an onslaught of too much information and an army of baby updates, everyone. [More]
Judge Says Your Facebook "Likes" Are Not Protected By The Constitution
By 5.4.12
Go ahead and click “like” on whatsoever you please on Facebook, but if you get into hot water because of it, don’t expect a judge to let you hide behind the First Amendment and the right to free speech. A federal judge ruled recently that liking something on the social network isn’t constitutionally protected speech. [More]
Facebook Humbly Sets Its Value At Up To $96 Billion
By 5.3.12
Facebook, a clever little startup that lets people “friend” each other or something like that, is set to go public on May 18. In advance of its initial public offering, the company led by a plucky, big-dreaming college dropout announced today that it’s worth as much as $96 billion. [More]
Study: 13 Million People Haven't Touched Facebook Privacy Settings
By 5.3.12
There are more than 150 million Americans using Facebook at this point, and that number is growing. But do you know everything you need to about your privacy when it comes to social networking? Maybe not, as a new exhaustive study from Consumer Reports on social networking privacy found that 13 million American Facebook users have never touched their privacy settings. [More]
The U.S. Government Wants To Make Sure You've Written Your Social Media Will
By 5.2.12
The United States government is hip to social networking, and because it knows all about the Facebook and the Twittering, it wants you to be prepared with a social will in the event of your demise. After all, there have been reports of the families of deceased people having trouble gaining access to those kinds of accounts. [More]
Federal Lawmakers Introduce Social Networking Online Protection Act
By 4.30.12
While some states are taking steps toward protecting workers against current or potential employers from snooping around in Facebook accounts, federal lawmakers are also pushing similar legislation. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and and Rep. Eliot Engel, of New York, both Democrats, have introduced a new bill to Congress regarding the matter. [More]
Facebook Is Not Interested In Your So-Called 'Privacy' Preferences
By 4.18.12
If there’s anything we should have learned about Facebook by now, it’s that “privacy” is an essentially meaningless word to the company, and any privacy settings that you have now will be undone in the next update. Jeff, who is a writer, uses Facebook but keeps his profile pretty locked down in order to keep his personal life separate from his public persona. (We empathize.) He set up his account so that his list of friends wouldn’t be visible to his other friends in order to prevent people he knows from adding virtual strangers who happen to be on Jeff’s friends list. [More]
Maryland Legislation Tells Employers To Stay Out Of Your Social Networking Business
By 4.12.12
Maryland lawmakers are moving forward on new legislation aimed at keeping potential or current employers from asking for access to your social networking accounts. Because really, no one wants their boss snooping around in their lists of friends and peeking at their personal information — even Facebook has a problem with that idea. [More]
Facebook Loves Instagram So Much, It's Buying The Company For $1 Billion
By 4.9.12
Since it seems like most everyone’s Instragram photos end up in their Facebook stream, it just makes sense for the huge website to snap up the company behind the photo-sharing app for the princely sum of $1 billion. [More]
Visa, MasterCard Don't Want You Knowing Which Companies Are Failing At Protecting Your Information
By 4.3.12
If your bank tells you that your credit card information was stolen from an online merchant you bought something from, it only makes sense that the bank also tell you which e-tailer failed at protecting your information. But the banks say they can’t share this info because the folks at Visa and MasterCard prefer to keep that information private lest you stop doing business with the sources of the leaked information. [More]
Teacher's Aide Claims She Was Fired For Refusing To Give Up Facebook Password
By 4.2.12
It’s not just students that are getting in trouble for having Facebook accounts — one teacher’s aide says she was fired from her elementary school for refusing to hand over the password to her social networking account. The teacher is now embroiled in a legal battle with her former employers. [More]
Payment Processor: Up To 1.5 Million Credit Card Numbers Stolen
By 4.2.12
The news from the hacked third-party payment processor for MasterCard and Visa got worse over the weekend, as early reported estimates of around 50,000 card numbers put at risk turned out to be wrong by 1.45 million. [More]
MasterCard, Visa Payment Processor Says Violation Occurred In Early March; 50,000 Cards At Risk
By 3.30.12
Earlier today, we wrote about how MasterCard and Visa had begun notifying banks about a possible data breach at a third-party company that processes credit card payments. Now more information has come out regarding when the breach occurred and how many people may be affected. [More]
Homeowner's Association: Remove Our Name From Facebook Page Or We'll Sue
By 3.30.12
A Tennessee woman says she’s being bullied by her homeowner’s association, all because she used the name of her subdivision to create a private Facebook page for residents. [More]
MasterCard, Visa Warn Banks Of Possible Data Breach
By 3.30.12
MasterCard has notified law enforcement and banks that issue its cards of a possible data breach at a third-party payment processing company. [More]
School Orders Students To Delete Facebook Accounts Or Face Expulsion
By 3.29.12
Last week, every 11th grade student at a Jewish school for girls in Brooklyn was told to delete their Facebook accounts or risk a $100 fine, or even the possibility of expulsion. [More]
Worst Company In America Round 3: AT&T Vs. Facebook
By 3.28.12
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… a young man with big dreams took down the Death Star in his X-wing starfighter. Can history repeat itself today, as Facebook’s precocious billionaire takes on the dark lords of the AT&T empire? [More]
