written by Sam C.

Digital identity is what other people refer to you as in technology. Digital identities are something to be careful around, because people can steal your identity, take your identity and say things about you that aren’t true, and that can put you in danger or change your life. If you use Facebooks Beacon program, Facebook can track what you do on the internet, even after you log out. In my opinion no one should have a Facebook account, but if you do, you just have to be careful.

My first article, Facebook Is Always Watching You, by Betsy Schiffman, (http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/12/facebooks-is-al.html) which was published on December 4, 2007, says that Facebook can get really detailed information about what you do on the internet. They can also link that information to your individual Facebook profile, with usually has personal stuff on it. Also, once you do your stuff on the internet, your friends know what you did, before you know it. According to this, it’s pretty easy to block Facebook, you just have to know some stuff . For instance, you can not click on the remember me box when you are logging into Facebook, and you can also by a Firefox plug-in that blocks data going between partner sites. I think this article is informative, and gives good reason to be careful on the internet.

My second article, Facebook partners quiet on Beacon fallout, by Juan Carlos Perez and Nancy Gohring (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/11/AR2007121100723.html), was published on December 11, 2007. Here, it says that many of Beacons users were emailed and didn’t want to talk, apparently thinking that being tracked by Beacon and the uproar around it would pass, and didn’t really care about being tracked. A month ago, people were shooting complaints left and right, and demanding that they change it. Facebook has changed twice to make it more strait-forward to opt out. Still, Beacon tracks logged out users, former users, and even nonusers. Then Beacon sends all the info back to Facebook, without the people’s permission, and without them knowing. The CA has done research, and it has prompted the question of whether Beacon should have warnings on partner sites saying that Facebook will know they were there, even if they aren’t Facebook members. This article is really interesting because of what it says about the decline in complaints since last month.

I think Facebook is bad, but lots of people like it. They like it because they can talk to friends, send people pictures, and all sorts of stuff. It’s different from email, because it’s easier to send pictures. Also, you don’t have to email some one, you can just put whatever you want on your page, and all of your “friends” can see it.

In conclusion, here are some things you can do to stop it tracking you: Don’t click the box that says “remember me” on it when you’re logging in to Facebook, and you can also get a Firefox plug-in that blocks data going between the partner sites and Facebook. The two articles are really informing, and the change in the amount of complaints is really interesting. My opinion is that you shouldn’t use Facebook , and you should be careful on the internet. I am going to be careful of Facebooks partner sites.