Facebook Finally Deletes Millions of Embarrassing Pictures from Its Servers After Years of Keeping Them Against Users' Wishes

In the article ''Facebook photos sting Minn. High school students'' it states that the social networks are not private but is of the public to view. That students post their personal information at the will. Also the article ''Facing Consequences at Eden Prairies

Facebook is a well know social networking site that has taken all over the world with over 500 million people using the site. Social networking sites such as Facebook share information about the user over the Internet, where it can be freely accessed by anyone. This is where issues of privacy to the individual arise. As

People can post some foolish things on Facebook. Some posts go beyond embarrassing or ill-advised, though, and can get the poster in serious trouble with the law.

Many individuals have resorted to social media to connect with friends or strangers alike. Social media has also encouraged people to display private conduct to the public. Many colleges and businesses have resorted to viewing an applicant’s social media for work force readiness. I believe this is a good strategy, because it can eliminate competition in the work place.

One of the most popular social networks is Facebook with a hundred millions of users, who create their profiles and become “friends” with other members. They share photos and videos, post status updates, exchange messages, join certain groups of interest as well as receive notifications when others update their profiles. It is a great communication tool, especially for families and friends living far away. In addition, Facebook helps meeting new people, because frequently it’s easier to start conservation on-line than face to face. With all these positive aspects there are several drawbacks. First is cyber-bullying: there aren’t many moderators to control what had been said and some could become innocent victims

Have you ever posted something on social media that you instantly regretted? Many people have and have felt that way before. The problem is that even after the delete button is pushed the content is unfortunately there forever. One time I accidently posted a picture of my friend on my snapchat story that was not supposed to go on there. I realized it after two hours and by that point many people had already viewed it. Sadly, even after I had deleting the image, the damage had already been done.

Notably, “We Post Nothing About Our Daughter Online” signifies the authors sentiments and concerns very well. Parents are frequently caught up in the many joys of parenthood and the desire to share these occasions with the world. In spite of the circumstance, parents are still oblivious to how exemplary actions become hindering to their child's future. For instance- bathtub pictures, running around the house in his or her diaper, or just playing a superhero in the front of the house, with the house address in plain view. Indeed, these types of pictures and videos appear quite innoxious, or the author is extremely paranoid in this article. By the same token, Facebook contains millions of profiles, and no one can verify the motives of individuals ("Why We Post Nothing—Nothing—About Our Kid Online”. Here are two examples of how photos can be missed used; prior to May 5th, 2015 there have been two occurrences where children were demoralized. The first was on May 5th, 2015. A Utah mother was mortified after discovering her Facebook photos of her child had been used on more than eleven porn sites("Utah Mom Finds Stolen Facebook Photos Of Her Kids Promoting Porn Sites."). The second offense was Subways' very own Jared Fogle. He accepted a plea deal for engaging in sex with a minor, and obtaining child pornography from online sources("Jared Fogle Sought out Teen Sex, Child

Facebook has an array of information assets that it owns by collecting information on its users.

Going along with the privacy issue, some people feel that they no longer want to share personal things with their Facebook friends. Often times, their friends are people that they barely know, whether they went to high school together or they may be a friend of a friend. Users feel that these people do not need to know all of the intimate details of their lives. The same CNN article tells a story about a couple who deleted their accounts in order to reestablish past

However, this practice has been noted to be beneficiary in understanding the character of an employee or student. Going through their profiles would reveal more on their relationships and interactions with other people. This would help organizations get the rightful applicants because an error in this could result in irreparable harm. Even so, as this practice becomes widespread, people would always clean their accounts before interviews to depict the needful and erase the undesired. This way, employers and schools would not gather useful information as the profile would have been customized to impress. Additionally, people could operate Facebook accounts to be used for interviews. Such accounts would contain what would be considered desirable for interviewers. They would have other accounts for normal socialization. Therefore, at the end of it, interviewers who access their Facebook accounts get wrong information on the interviewee.

One thing Microsoft, Google and Facebook have in common is that they collect about as much data from each of their visitors as each other, according to an internet marketing research company (Alexa 2012). Users are concerned about the privacy of their personal information, even after the Facebook security expanded its efforts to reduce the risks to the users’ privacy. Facebook Beacon was launched in Nov 2007, a service that was ultimately a failed attempt at advertising specific products to a user’s friends depending on what known purchases that friend had made. As of last month, Facebook has begun to more closely examine the usage of its user data. Facebook accepted that it had deceived users by failing to keep certain promises regarding privacy, and agreed to settle charges laid by the United States Federal Trade Commission.

Even though the practice of using social media to vet candidates is relatively new, there are standards already established for this process. Employers who are hesitant to use social media typically cite fear of allegations of discriminatory hiring practices. To protect themselves against legal ramifications of unfair hiring processes, employers should always consult with an employment attorney to develop policies for gathering and use of internet-based information (“The Facebook Background Check.”) An employment attorney can help

Most people who post personal information on Facebook believe they know who has access to their personal information. Generally, they intend the information to be for friends or maybe groups (people of a shared interest). From the conversations that I have had with work associates, I find many, if not most are unaware of the complexity of setting the permissions of who get to see what they have posted. To further compound the complexity, Facebook will make changes to their ‘security’. Facebook is very slow to inform the users that they need to reevaluate their security settings. I have often helped associates with these settings. When going through the steps with them, they are very upset that the world or even a group of people or students had access to their personal postings. I have seen faculty members dismissed because of improper privacy settings and students suspended for the same reason. Many years ago, after our department chair, co-chair, and a faculty member were sacked for not setting their privacy settings correctly, as the story goes, I quit Facebook

This lawsuit almost caused the company to shutdown but after Zuckerberg denied any claim, the lawsuit was dropped. It also went through privacy issues in 2009 when they changed their policies, which caused a huge controversy with users. Zuckerberg eventually reverted back to the old privacy policy and is still in the works of changing it. Even with all these controversies, Facebook is still widely used for social networking such as keeping in contact with friends by writing on each others’ walls, posting photos, updating statuses, writing notes, joining groups and attending events.

Now, most people would say that pictures are all digital and can be stored on hard drive or the Cloud. This is true; Our society is all digital and it’s an easier process than taking the picture, waiting 1-2 days for the photo to develope, then find it a place in your house. But what about old family photos and baby pictures? I guarantee you have a picture printed and developed somewhere in your house. Pictures like these can't be put back onto the internet and saved as they are, and if they can, what about the originals? Even though our world is mainly digital, there are still things that aren’t, like old family photos.