Initially, this post was a knee jerk reaction
Since being contacted by the developers, and having a second, third and fourth look, I have come to realize that the Bigsight website, as it is at present, is not a bad idea.
Having all your profiles located in one place for people to see is not such a bad idea, and if that is all there is to this site, then I don’t have a problem with it.
I apologize to the developers, Dan Birdwhistell and Ben Sinclair, for any offense that I may have caused.
Having Said All That…
I would encourage anyone anywhere at anytime, to stop and think before filling in any personal details on any site.
My profile on Bigsight was built from publicly available information. Information that I had made publicly available on Facebook and other sites.
It is imperative that you protect your own privacy, and only include information that you are comfortable with others seeing.
I will state though that I am far less comfortable with the activities of a site such as Wink.com
You can find my post about Wink here!
Now, as I painfully remove my foot from my mouth, read on…
BigSight Aims to Become White Pages of Web Pulls Data from Facebook screamed the headline from Techcrunch, dated January 7, 2008.
I’d gone there after doing a Google search following a Google Alert that I had received this morning.
My Facebook profile had been taken and used to create a profile on BigSight.Org. The profile has since been deleted.
The Techcrunch article mentions the fact that BigSight also has a Facebook Application.
Now the concept does have merit.
In its present form and purpose in trying to become the ‘white pages’ of the Internet there doesn’t seem to be a problem.
My initial reaction was caused by the fact that the profile had been built without my knowledge.
If I had added the application on Facebook, I would have had the option of not adding it, or blocking it.
Obviously though, I do have a number of profiles around the place, and this site simply put them all in one place.
My main concern was lack of choice
After checking the Facebook terms of service, I found that no rules had been broken. This was my public profile and it could also be found on Google.
My main concern then was the lack of choice. As I mentioned elsewhere though, the opt out option has been simplified.
I understand that material on the web site has been rewritten, so as to prevent negative reactions like mine.
This is one of those situations where we can become a ‘prisoner of our own device’ by agreeing to Terms of Service without checking all details thoroughly.
Interestingly, I was involved in a conversation with another blogger when I first saw this.
I had been trying to encourage him to stick with Facebook, rather than deleting his account.
The point that I make over and again is simply that limiting the amount of information that you put into the public domain is the best way to safe guard your privacy.
You can see what I am talking about regarding being a prisoner of our own device by going to You Can Check Out Any Time You Like…
Keep An Eye On Who Is Using Your Name
This incident enforces my view of the value of Google Alerts.
They enable you to watch for mention of your name, website address or other information online.
You can set a number of alerts if you wish, and use them to track these details at set intervals.
To set up your own alert, go to Google Alerts!
