Hii Ty Y

Online Practice Activity

English for Academic Studies

Facebook ‘Places’ Raises Online Privacy Fears (Again)

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As it has so often in the past, Facebook has again drawn fire from many online privacy

advocates, this time with its launch of Facebook ‘Places’, a location-based service that allows

users to “check in” to a specific place or event and share that information with their friends. It

also allows others to “tag” or check you in at a location if you are Facebook friends.

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However, all Facebook has done is push the envelope a little. Even before Facebook ‘Places’

came along, location-based services like Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt were already a privacy

concern for many. Sites like these allow users to broadcast their location to others on the web.

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But many people simply don’t like the idea of sharing their location with others, even if it is just

with a circle of close friends. While many web users have gotten comfortable with posting their

thoughts, pictures, activities, even their emotional state on public blogs and forums, there is

something about location that just seems too real. Allowing others to know your physical

location crosses that boundary between the virtual world and the real world.

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Many people argue that these location-based apps make it easier to meet up with friends, or to

find out information about different venues via user-generated “tips”, but this doesn’t seem to

convince those users that are paranoid about the negative impact location sharing might have.

Some users may have been stalked or even attacked in the past, and don’t want to give potential

stalkers any additional tools to help them locate their victims.

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Facebook ‘Places’ has turned up the fear meter, however, because it has added one crucial

feature that other services don’t have – the ability to “check in” other people at a location, in...