Consumer Reports Examines Facebook Privacy From The User End

Consumer Reports often looks at a company’s practices, products or services from the consumer’s viewpoint in a review-type way, but a new report by the trusted watchdog brand has delved into how users of the service could be managing their privacy settings in a far more proactive way.

The June issue of Consumer Reports examines Facebook’s ‘labyrinthian’ privacy policies, noting that many users are inadvertently leaking their own information through means one might not expect to be a means of direct data conveyance. For instance, many Facebook users will, Consumer Reports notes, “like” a page related to a medication or medical condition- providing a semi-public link between themselves and the information that could theoretically be used against them in the distant future by an insurance company.

Another instance would be the more obvious circumstance of Facebook users detailing their movements- again, sometimes inadvertently when Facebook appends a location to a status update- leaving them vulnerable to criminal activity like burglary. Consumer Reports Technology Editor Jeff Fox explains the new Facebook report in a press release:

“Facebook really is changing the way the world socially communicates and has become a successful service in part by leveraging copious amounts of personal data that can be spread far wider than its users might realize… Our investigation revealed some fascinating, and some disquieting trends – but ones always worth knowing for consumers who wish to keep their personal data under better control.”

In a phone interview with Bloomberg, Fox expounds upon the role of Facebook in guiding users toward better personal privacy practices:

“A lot of things about the service are not very transparent to non-technical people… Facebook is the custodian of all this information — they have a social responsibility to people who use this service.”

The full Consumer Reports Facebook report can be found online at consumerreports.org.