Large-scale social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace are long-term threats to users safety.  I love social networking…don’t get me wrong, this is not an Orwellian conspiracy theory – I just see a lot of potential dangers to personal safety and violations of privacy – which would be totally fine if users knew what they were getting themselves into…but not fine at all when they don’t realize what is out there.

In a nutshell: As a user of social networking websites you make available information that will likely be used by businesses for their own revenue-driven interests – the same information can also be used by malicious parties to cause harm to you.  The information you provide comes in the form of status updates, photos, contact information, and location data.  This information is already being exploited to establish your user profile – not the profile that your friends see on the web…but a user profile that is more like a target profile – as in marketing target.

marketing – targeted just for you!
Your every move is continuously monitored and logged, these logs are used to establish patterns that relate to your life (i.e. the things you like to buy, where you spend most of your time geographically, which friends you are closest to, what political beliefs you lean towards, what you like to wear, etc.)

This knowledge is like a holy grail for marketers…we understand you as a consumer so well that we’ll be able to make you an offer you can’t refuse!  For example: We can offer you a trip to Cancun, because we know you love it so much (you’ve been there three times in two years and drunken photos prove it); or we’ll offer you just the right price to purchase our product because we know that you have an American Express card and use it religiously just to rack up frequent flyer miles.

This fine-tuned marketing is something that many consumers welcome – it’s really a personal decision between whether you are okay with products and services being pushed your way, rather than you having to pull for products and services when you need or want them.   In my opinion, I actually want to receive a minimal amount of direct marketing – but when I receive it, I also want it to be as relevant as possible; nevertheless, it would still be creepy to receive a targeted postcard in the mail from Best Buy just two days after I updated my Facebook status with “I need a 52″ plasma TV.”

the scary part – criminals that want you on their rap sheet.
The targeted marketing isn’t really the scary part of all this – when presented with a fabulous deal I can still control the impulsive purchaser within me.  The scary part is when my information falls into the hands of malicious people…hackers, thieves, sex offenders, murderers, and con men.  In a future article I’ll address each of these types of malicious folks, speak to their specific motives, and outline the ways each of these bad men (and women) can get to you – but for now, let this serve as an introduction.  This is where things get messy – when the e-world merges with the real world; when bad people start using the internet to make their real world crimes more successful, more profitable, more pleasurable, and better targeted – that’s right…the same marketing profile that businesses use, can be used by criminals.

You tell your tweeps on Twitter exactly where you are at any given moment, you’ve publicly congratulated grandma for making it two weeks alone in her own apartment, and your 13 year old daughter now has 1,000 “friends” on Facebook.  This is all real-time information – what’s the point of leaving a light on in your house anymore when you can’t keep your fingers from typing away?

that’s not even the big concern
Even before the internet took over our lives we’ve been counting on criminals to be stupid – too dumb to analyze or understand patterns – but the patterns are so much easier to derive these days.  Soon you can expect a new flavor of software to make its way into the general public’s hands.  This software will allow you to derive patterns from Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and so on.  The simple software will provide an analyses of keywords written in your online profiles – giving criminals the information they need to figure you out.  What better means for a con man to use all the right words in winning over a naiive citizen.

The worse thing about this personal exposure risk is the exposure you inflict upon friends and relatives by sharing their photographs and commenting about their latest happenings.  Even if you stopped contributing to your online profiles altogether, your friends can continue to put you out.

some solutions…
Once these realities about personal exposure begin setting in on the masses, there will be a sizable wave of users bailing out of their online social media caves.  The shift will be towards more personal online social networks – where people share things only with people they trust … on their own secure data servers.  We can expect major loot going to the startup that offers this model to the public starting from right now (startup…if you’re out there – talk to me, we can make this historical).

Currently on the market are a variety of custom social networking websites – some let you host on your own servers, others are already hosted but give you the power to choose members.  Custom social networking sites include: Elgg, Ning, Dolphin, and Socialtext.

Diaspora, the new startup that drew loads of attention in mid-2010 upon getting $200,000 in initial funding from Kickstarter, has just launched the Diaspora social networking website.  It’s currently in private alpha and promises to provide increased security, privacy, and control to its users.

It’s likely that Facebook currently understands the potential for a user exodus over the coming years that stems from excessive personal exposure.  If they do in fact understand this risk – they will soon begin to supply the demand with their own solution.

Again – I love online social media but there is real reason for concern here – check out these resources for more on the topic: Center for Democracy & Technology, Safe Kids.com, Please Rob Me.com

Next up…I’ll write about the types of bad men  and women that will commit privacy and safety violations on social network users.  Each type will have its own modus operandi and desired outcomes: The Hacker, The Thief, The Sex Offender, The Con Man.

[  Subscribe via e-mail to make sure you get my update: use this form ]