September 30, 2009

Facebook's Guilt By Association?

The Facebook application created by Advance Alien Technology (AAT) is the latest demonstration of how poor privacy policies and government investigations can collide. A survey, created using an application developed by AAT, asked whether "President Obama should be Killed" and offered several options for respondents. Many Facebook users were outraged, and contacted the company and the Secret Service. The survey was taken down, but not before several hundred people participated. The Secret Service is investigating the matter, but the issue may not just be about the person(s) who created the survey. An investigation could extend to the people who participated in the survey, as well as their Facebook network of contacts. The one thing that Facebook users might not anticipate is the use of all applications allows the developer to collection information on them. Unfortunately, if Facebook users practiced poor privacy hygiene and their privacy settings are not set to protect privacy, the application developer may also be collecting information on their network of contacts. In this case, how much information the Secret Service may collect and how much might be available for them to collect may leave a lot of people vulnerable to being caught up in a federal investigation related to a threat on the President's life.

Secret Service investigates Obama poll on Facebook, David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2009