Facebook waged war against Foursquare when it introduced the location service Places a few months ago. Earlier this week, the social networking giant went after the likes of Groupon with the launch of Deals, a feature that lets participating vendors send promos directly to your phone.
But the real casualty with all of these developments may be your privacy.
As Facebook encroaches beyond your life as a social butterfly and into your life as a consumer, a lot more is at stake. Personal information you inadvertently broadcast about when, how and where you spend your money is now up for grabs.
While most everyone can appreciate a good discount, this shrewd feature may also result in more impulsive purchases, particularly after a breakup (which Facebook already knows about) or if you use your credit card willy-nilly.
The problem at the end of the day is that Facebook is still not secure. Whereas your bank offers secure browsing, Facebook doesn't even warn its users that there's a privacy issue in the first place. As Forbes' Kashmir Hill reports, all you may need to hack Facebook is Firefox, a plug-in called Firesheep and public WiFi. She notes how one blogger purportedly looked at what a fellow Wi-Fi user at a New York Starbucks bought on Amazon and sent him a message about it from his own Facebook account.
Unfortunately, a company spokesperson Hill asked about this issue only had this to say: “We have been making progress testing SSL access across Facebook and hope to provide it as an option in the coming months. As always, we advise people to use caution when sending or receiving information over unsecured Wi-Fi networks.”
Source: newsfeed.time
But the real casualty with all of these developments may be your privacy.
As Facebook encroaches beyond your life as a social butterfly and into your life as a consumer, a lot more is at stake. Personal information you inadvertently broadcast about when, how and where you spend your money is now up for grabs.
While most everyone can appreciate a good discount, this shrewd feature may also result in more impulsive purchases, particularly after a breakup (which Facebook already knows about) or if you use your credit card willy-nilly.
The problem at the end of the day is that Facebook is still not secure. Whereas your bank offers secure browsing, Facebook doesn't even warn its users that there's a privacy issue in the first place. As Forbes' Kashmir Hill reports, all you may need to hack Facebook is Firefox, a plug-in called Firesheep and public WiFi. She notes how one blogger purportedly looked at what a fellow Wi-Fi user at a New York Starbucks bought on Amazon and sent him a message about it from his own Facebook account.
Unfortunately, a company spokesperson Hill asked about this issue only had this to say: “We have been making progress testing SSL access across Facebook and hope to provide it as an option in the coming months. As always, we advise people to use caution when sending or receiving information over unsecured Wi-Fi networks.”
Source: newsfeed.time
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