Privacy on Facebook

In 2009, Facebook made a change in their privacy policy. This change made things like friend lists, relationships, and work history available to the public, even though for many users, these options were set to private. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, justified the change by stating that privacy was no longer the social norm. With more than 350 million users, the change in policy was sure to create controversy.

In some ways, the change in policy was inevitable. After all, Facebook is meant to share your life with your friends. It is a social site. It is where people can go and connect with friends, both old and new, family, and even people that they do not know, like celebrities. When a person signs up to use Facebook, they are asked to read the terms of usage and agree to it. By agreeing to the terms, a user agrees to let go of some of their privacy. In fact, if the user is the one that is posting status updates, photos, or any other personal information, the user should expect that others would see that information. It is no different from the user meeting in a public place such as a restaurant, and speaking about something in their personal lives. While that person may not intend to be overheard or seen by someone, it is inevitable that it will happen. There is no expectation of privacy in a public or social setting. Facebook is a public and social setting, and therefore users should not expect any reasonable amount of privacy.

The other side to this privacy change is that people do indeed expect a reasonable amount of privacy no matter the situation. If someone were to have a phone conversation in public, he would expect that no one would eavesdrop. If a person were to flip through a photo album on a park bench, they would expect that no one else would see those pictures unless invited to. Facebook users want to control who sees their information. The expectation of privacy from their everyday life is carried over to their virtual life...