Facebook Linkedin MySpace And Wink Privacy Issues
Well, haven’t I opened a can of worms with my post on Facebook and Bigsight!
All sorts of information has been sent to me by different people, and it has been pointed out to me that there are in fact three profiles of me on Wink.com.
In the meantime, the option to delete a profile from Bigsight has been made a one click process.
The Wink profiles work in a similar manner to Bigsight, gathering information from social networking sites such as Linkedin, Myspace and Facebook, and making it available on their website.
Fine, no problem, because I have profiles all over the place. Having one in one place is quite handy, right?
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
At least as far as Wink is concerned!
Click on the more information link about me, and you will get a list of people with the name ‘Allan Cockerill’ who reside in the US.
Not a problem for me at the moment, because I am residing in the wonderful land of Oz, but access to information on people in other parts of the world wouldn’t be too hard to access!
Pick the ‘Allan Cockerill’ that you want want information on though, and you have the opportunity to purchase a report on him, including credit history, income and so on.
I checked the profile of a friend in the US (who I won’t name for obvious reasons), and found a link there for a ‘background check’, which I could purchase.
This is all done through a site called Intelius.com
Now, it’s no use shutting the gate after the horse has bolted, but I have been doing a bit of editing on my profiles, erasing information that people just don’t need to know about.
As I wrote the other day, We are prisoners of our own device!
Once you submit information to a website, it is open for everyone to see.
I’m not saying that everyone should go and shut down their account, but what I am saying is this: Your Privacy Is Your Concern!
Do not put anything in your profile that you don’t want others to see… stay tuned for updates!
Hi Allan,
You’re not being monitored yet i suppose. 🙂 I’m sure you have read George Orwell’s 1984 and all the Big Brother possibilities that can happen. A similar film, Enemy of the State, is in the same vein.
All your posts and the information there could be retrieved, and this could create a whole book about you with underlying analysis of your typical reactions and behavior patterns. You certainly are correct about being prisoners of our own device.
One reason why I took on a pseudonym is precisely because of this. I have to relate with organizations and governments and sometimes I just can’t stand what they do. My bit in exposing some of these incompetencies find their way in my posts, sometimes embedded in the write up but not the main theme or subject. At other times, comments I post on other sites, even foreign funders sites, are really full of literary venom. But my real name is hidden. You will recall that meme on the 7 things about myself that you challenged me to write,that was all true but who is this author? The name does not exist. Notice too that I always write in the 3rd person, since some of the experiences in the post are my own. Despite all these, if it really gets rough, I know I could be found out based on the IP of the computer I use.
Your post is a good reminder for everyone. I have put in a safety device but I am not deceiving myself that I’m truly covered. But reading my posts, these monitors could still come up with a profile and a likely 3 candidates, one of them being me.
Take down some of the personal info and do erase the more revealing ones. I hope it’s not too late for you. Do it as a precaution. Take care. That’s the price of being controversial… and rebellious. 🙂 __Durano, done!
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Hmmm… I’m upset that sites like Wink can actually link with an organisation such as Intelius and sell data.
It comes down to the question of who owns your info, and what right they have to sell it.
I remember George Orwell’s ‘1984’ very well. That book was part of our required reading list years ago when I was studying. His other book, ‘Animal Farm’ also had a strong message as well.
The world is changing, or is it? Is it just that in the information age more info is available, and it is more able to be used?
It would indeed be easy to build a profile on someone from information that is freely available.
One friend in the US totally flipped when I confronted him with the evidence. He thought that he had his tracks covered, used a pseudonym and so on, but I was able to find his info….
Take care!
G’day Allan,
Yes, my real name and real web site. Stuff ’em! I will not be intimidated and I believe that they are breaking the law quite frankly.
Consider this.
If I publish my profile on Facebook, then as far as I am concerned I own that information via the copyright legislation and I am giving Facebook a licence to use it. I am NOT giving any Tom, Dick or Harry lickence to do the same.
What if it was a graphic I created. It’s my copyright and can only be used with my permission. Why should my personal information be any different?
How dare these sites “lift” my personal information and use it to try and profit.
As you rightly say, Wink only gives access to US databases for US residents. Aussies tend to get a bit paranoid about their privacy and rightly so. I feel we are entitled to keep private what we wish and share what we wish.
This concept of Profile lifting is a bit like telling one of your mates some personal details and then they run out and tell the world. It would not be regarded highly.
It seems I have a Wink account. Not sure how I got it, but when I went to delete it, I couldn’t find a link. Perhaps one will surface through your blog posts.
Cheers,
Ric
G’day Ric,
Thanks for the comment, and you’re spot on as far ownership and content are concerned.
I think that you would find that even the developers of these sites will admit that they are operating in a ‘grey’ area at best.
While I am only a very small fish in a huge pond in regard to traffic and influence, someone, somewhere has to start debating these things publicly, and not just at ‘higher levels’.
The inability to delete a wink profile is a real issue, and in that regard I have to hand it to the developers of Bigsight – they included that option from the start, and after my previous post, made it even easier.
I see less of a problem with their model than Wink, who make money out of selling data via Intelius.com.
Less of a problem, but still a shock when you see your profile there for the first time.
As for privacy, Aussies may be paranoid mate, but I remember when the Hawke Govt tried to bring in the Australia card in the mid ’80s, that when the population rolled the propsal, the bureaucrats rolled out the ‘Tax File Number’, which was supposedly only for tax purposes.
The reality is though, that apart from the fact that it i being used for more purposes, including opening a bank account and so on, unless I am mistaken, it can be used to cross reference other data and build a profile.
I’m with you about being open – state who you are, and only use data about yourself that is public knowledge anyway!
Cheers mate!