Facebook pivots on privacy again: for the better

in internet on 2014-07-27 23:13 (#3RX)

Facebook is revamping its stance on privacy again. Slate writes:

Remember when Mark Zuckerberg didn't believe in privacy? When he argued that it was "no longer a social norm"? When Facebook employees wouldn't even use the word "privacy" at a forum about the future of privacy? That was then. Now, it seems, privacy is back-not just as a social norm, but as a business model.

A good read, by Will Orison. He reviews a number of serious changes over the past six months and identifies a trend. This is good for the consumer, so let's hope the shift is industry-wide.

[Ed. note: I conclude that Zuckerberg's occasional "declaration" sounds like uncontrovertable fact but is usually a desperate attempt to make what's good for his greedy little company sound like what the consumer wants or deserves. This step back shows he is sometimes obliged to eat some crow pie. Bon appetite, Zuck.]

For How Long? If At All (Score: 1)

by commonjoe@pipedot.org on 2014-07-28 10:00 (#2P2)

I think everyone here already knows that good ol' Zuck can reverse his decision at a moments notice and make everything on Facebook (that was previously claimed private) public again. If he changed direction once (as this article says), there's nothing stopping him from swinging back the other way in a year or two.

Heck, today, there's nothing stopping him from allowing you to mark something private while he sells it in the background without ever telling you about it.

Such is the way of "the cloud".