15 ms·

Facebook Removing Option To Be Unsearchable By Name

248 points by austenallred 13y ago

hawkharris 13y ago
In case this saves anyone some time... https://www.facebook.com/help/www/224562897555674 https://www.facebook.com/help/www/224562897555674
- k3n 13y ago
  I don't think they know what "permanently" means.
  - recycleme 13y ago
    After you choose to "permanently" delete your account, you'll get a message that says, "Your personal account was recently disabled by Facebook" two weeks later.
  - thex86 13y ago
    "Then, if you'd like your account permanently deleted with no option for recovery, log into your account and fill out this form." So it is possible to delete your account "completely". I did this once and I have never been more happier. I actually spent time being tense when Facebook rolled out a new privacy blunder and would rush to check all settings. Imagine the time wasted. So to all those who are contemplating deleting the account but can't - do it. It's totally worth it.
    - k3n 13y ago
      What I was referring to is the fact that they likely never delete your info, they just set disabled=1, recoverable=0. I have heard anecdotal accounts[1] and read the writing on the wall[2], along with a hunch, that they would rather not delete data unless compelled to. Disk space is probably the cheapest its ever been, and there's a lot that you could learn from one's profile data, and they undoubtedly data-mine (and probably sell) it regardless of your disabled status. A 3rd party might be more interested in your data, say maybe if they determined that their demographic shows a strong inverse correlation with FB activity. Or maybe the 3rd party feels that they've already saturated the FB market, and is looking for leads in new markets. Facebook themselves would stand to gain from crunching numbers to try and determine why people leave, since that is lost revenues for them. Although, I hear that the EU (or maybe just the UK?) has strict provisions around keeping data, and so those users who choose to delete their account really do have their data wiped. But not the rest of us. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3145987 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3145987 2. http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/08/29/facebook-reminds-users-all-your-data-is-fair-game/ http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/08/29/facebook-reminds-user...
      - ecdavis 13y ago
        "When you delete an account, it is permanently deleted from Facebook. It typically takes about one month to delete an account, but some information may remain in backup copies and logs for up to 90 days. You should only delete your account if you are sure you never want to reactivate it. You can delete your account here. Certain information is needed to provide you with services, so we only delete this information after you delete your account. Some of the things you do on Facebook aren't stored in your account, like posting to a group or sending someone a message (where your friend may still have a message you sent, even after you delete your account). That information remains after you delete your account."[1] "Maybe that was true in the past, but today when you delete your data it is gone. Trust me, I wrote it myself. The law enforcement guidelines that have been circulating recently corroborate this."[2] I do wonder what sort of "things you do on Facebook" aren't stored on your account, though. [1] https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/your-info#deletion https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/your-info#deletion [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3320240 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3320240
      - tilsammans 13y ago
        I deleted, really really deleted my Facebook account a couple of years ago and always suspected they kept it alive. I am in Europe, so Facebook falls under the EU privacy directives. Recently I requested them to hand over all information they have on file about me. This was done through official channels, also involving the Data Protection Commissioner. The response was they had nothing about me on file. It's possible that they even lied about this, but it seems unlikely at this point. So at least for Europeans it seems you can really have your information purged.
    - pessimizer 13y ago
      No option for recovery by the person whose account it was. Facebook is probably still holding the data. I hope I got out early enough that I may have actually gotten deleted at some point. I can't remember how many years ago it was, but it was after a few facebook creep cycles (things like this that hit the news) not super-early like some people.
  - junto 13y ago
    Even though @PeterHunt apparently wrote this deletion feature, and stated on HN that your information really is deleted [1], I still don't believe him. Even if he is genuine, there is nothing to prove that since he wrote it, Facebook haven't changed that policy. That is Facebook's core problem. They are the boy that cried wolf. We have seen them lie about privacy. We have seen how they have eroded our privacy, sometimes deliberately and sometimes by mistake. More importantly, we have seen them make these invasions into our privacy, and genuinely not seem to care. The take-way from this, is that Facebook has become untrustable. As more people realize that, the more people will start deleting their accounts. The challenge is (as a person that has deleted their Facebook account), is that you have to overcome the addiction and then the deal with the loss. You have to finally accept that the things you think you are missing out on really aren't that important. I personally found this quite hard to accept. Giving up Facebook and giving up smoking are relatively similar, and I've done both. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3320240 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3320240
recursive 13y ago
I know several people that misspell their own name on Facebook for this purpose. I imagine that if people still want to be unsearchable, this is what they'll do.
- psbp 13y ago
  Or,you know, just stop using facebook. The degree to which users are accommodating Facebook's increasingly onerous privacy policies is becoming ridiculous.
  - recursive 13y ago
    If you stop using facebook, then you also lose the benefits of facebook. Some people want to use facebook, but not be searchable by name. It is not difficult to change one's name on facebook, so I hardly think it's a ridiculous response.
    - psbp 13y ago
      The benefits of facebook? What, that they're holding my relationships hostage behind a wall? Again, the lengths that users are going to so that they can use a basic utility without being manipulated and taken advantage of is ridiculous.
      - pavel_lishin 13y ago
        Nearly all of my friends use Facebook for scheduling events. If you can tell me how I can convince them all to switch to another service, I'll delete my Facebook account. Ideally, this plan will also work for when that service becomes a burden, so I can continue asking my friends to switch to new services. Also, I know I could just talk to my friends more often, and ask them regularly if there are events they've forgotten to invite me to, but that will make me sound needy and pathetic, much like someone refusing to own a telephone, and instead showing up at their friends' houses unannounced, just in case they had something to communicate.
JoeCortopassi 13y ago
That's cute. Guess there's always one other option, for people that don't want to/can't let themselves be searchable by name delete's Facebook account
- ryanhuff 13y ago
  Or change your name to an alias.
  - McPants 13y ago
    I recently tried to do this. Facebook actually will recognize if a name sounds "too fake" and reject it, saying that you can only use a real name. https://www.facebook.com/help/112146705538576 https://www.facebook.com/help/112146705538576 Facebook is just shooting themselves in the foot. Instead of accommodating for it's users it wants its users to accommodate for facebook. These decisions are just silly and a slap in the face to anyone who wants a shred of privacy.
    - MAGZine 13y ago
      I used my middle name as my last name. My name became incredibly generic when I did this, so bonus points for unsearchability.
    - EvanKelly 13y ago
      That's interesting, I recently had a friend change his name to something analagous to "SunBurned". I thought it was bizarre, and maybe just temporary, but it's there, and since I have my contacts merged in my phone, I have to remember to search for SunBurned rather than his name when I want to text him.
    - desas 13y ago
      My name is very unusual, so unusual that other family members haven't been able to sign-up with our surname for the three or four years as it's "too fake".
    - aroman 13y ago
protomyth 13y ago
I cannot wait until we get founders / decision makers at these social network companies that have to hide from an abusive spouse / ex so that safety of users might be somewhat of a priority. The "well, don't use it" response is utter crap given how many real life functions are being tied into these social networks.
- judk 13y ago
  What is a stalker going to do with access to only your public profile data? Your stalker already had access to that from every tag and mention of you anywhere on Facebook.
  - riquito 13y ago
    The moment that you wrongly publish something as public and he his monitoring your account, or when Facebook decides that addresses/events are public too, you are ed up
    - lelandbatey 13y ago
      I just... What? Do people really consent to share that kind of their information? I'm just surprised that people would use Facebook as such an "everything" platform for all the bits of data in their lives. I guess I've always kept relatively tight control over my data, at least whether I want aspects of data about me to be public. I say that even though I make a tremendous amount of information about me very accessible (name, age, address, family, phone number, email address, etc). However, for other people who don't have that luxury, I wonder why in the world they're using Facebook?
      - protomyth 13y ago
        Yes, they do. A lot of people manage their lives via Facebook. It is scary and amazing at the same time.
        tedunangst 13y ago
adrr 13y ago
Can't wait for the influx of friend invites of people i barely know. The feature was great to keep my profile hidden except to my close friends.
inversesquare 13y ago
Best oxymoron ever...'Facebook privacy settings'.
logicallee 13y ago
a big "fuck you" to anyone with an unusual name.
- lelandbatey 13y ago
  How is this detrimental to those with an unusual name? I ask because I have an unusual name (I've never met another "Leland") and I never set my name to be unsearchable, and I've not had any problems because of this. What bad things are going to happen?
  - logicallee 13y ago
    It's just unfair, users aren't on equal footing with respect to privacy. anyone you send a resume to can search for your facebook and know for sure it's you, for example. (just one example).
    - lelandbatey 13y ago
      I can see that. But what if they just typed your name into Google? Isn't that the same thing? Why doesn't that bother us?
  - auctiontheory 13y ago
    If your name is Mike Smith or Chris Wong or Jane Lee, you can murder and rape and pillage with the confidence that once you are out of prison, you'll be "anonymous" on social media - you can hide in plain sight. On the other hand, if the spelling of your name is unique in the digital world, as mine appears to be, everything you say and do online can be traced to you individually. (By employers, for instance. Who want to know how old you are, or whether you're married, or how you spend your spare time. To pick a bland example from among hundreds.)
    - yeukhon 13y ago
      I find your idea pretty shock. I never thought of that. But then again, if there is a crime, there is certainly an evidence. The thing is that evidence is hard to trace. For example, hair and dead skin. it's just hard to find - you can end up with 10000 individual hair sample on the crime scene.
k-mcgrady 13y ago
I've always defended Facebook and found it really useful. However recently I've noticed how little I use it and that I could (and would like to) delete my account. There is one thing holding me back though. Photos. When I'm out with friends etc. I don't take photos. There are usually one or two people who do and I can rely on those photos being made available to me through Facebook/tagging. If I delete my Facebook account I lose the opportunity to view/save those photos.
- visakanv 13y ago
  I deactivated my Facebook profile for several months. Didn't miss the photos. Came back. Photos start to look silly, pointless, trivial. If I really, really want to see something, I'll ask a friend to show it to me over his/her phone.
  - k-mcgrady 13y ago
    I personally enjoy looking back on old photos every now and then. It's not really so I can look at them the next day. I know for sure I would miss that every now and then.I guess the solution is just for me to take more pictures instead of relying on other people.
EvanKelly 13y ago
I certainly support the argument that this type of option should be the users' choice, but I'm curious by how many people seem to want to subvert this so that they remain unsearchable. I use Facebook so that I can connect with people I meet. If I don't exchange contact info with someone I meet, but they know my name, it's great for them to search and find me on Facebook. I don't want my Facebook connections to solely be people I choose to friend. I guess it boils down to how people use the service. Real Question: Why do you have an account, but not want people to be able to find you? EDIT: Thanks for the responses, some of them make a lot of sense that I didn't think of initially.
- marquis 13y ago
  >Why do you have an account, but not want people to be able to find you? It's a placeholder for Pages, and for the rare case I want to see baby photos. * edit: not to encourage FB but would probably pay for a business page that didn't need a personal email or setting up a fake account just carry it.
- Balgair 13y ago
  Because I want to share 'things' with the people in my social network and have no desire to share things with people outside of it like: employers, prospective employers, lawyers, police officers, people I do like but didn't want to hang out with more than that one night, etc.
  - EvanKelly 13y ago
    My understanding is the privacy settings will still exist and function. You have every ability to decline friend requests from the people you listed. I suppose there are social ramifications to declining a friend request from people you may see semi-regularly.
- glomph 13y ago
  Lots of people need that. Teachers, doctors, social workers, care workers, people who work in/out of prisons, people who have had violent spouses/family members and this is just off the top of my head. The list goes on. It is frustrating that the largest social media network is darn right hostile to large swathes of people. Lots of events and groups solely exist on facebook. I think it is kind of awful that we let a company cut people out of their real life social networks just because they have stronger privacy requirements than 'normal' people.
erbo 13y ago
It seems that GTAV's parody of Facebook as "LifeInvader" was even more spot-on than Rockstar Games realized. (I wasn't among those that objected to the "Friend Request" mission. After all, who hasn't wanted to blow Zuck's head off at one time or another? :-) )
- joeblau 13y ago
  You've gotta preface this with "spoiler alert"
ape4 13y ago
Facebook's main advantage over Twitter was the private-amoung-friends thing. I wonder why they are trying to kill the thing that sets them apart.
- lmm 13y ago
  No, facebook's main advantage was that you had enough room to write messages with some content in. And that there was a dedicated events-organizing system.
TheLoneWolfling 13y ago
So does anyone have an alternative? I've seen various suggestions of upcoming alternatives, but nothing concrete.
pasbesoin 13y ago
For many who have exited an abusive relationship, this represents nothing less than a complete betrayal by Facebook. I have a family member in such a situation. Fortunately, they have stayed away from Facebook and other social media out of fear of something like this. Congratulations, guys (and I choose that term somewhat deliberately, with reference to gender bias in domestic violence statistics): You've just branded yourselves as well as your product assholes.
tekk 13y ago
To be honest, I don't think they are going to go through with this. They are feeding news sites with this, people will "outrage" and then facebook will pull back and it'll seem like they actually care about privacy. Nice publicity stunt.
neya 13y ago
Many people are suggesting that we delete our profiles. Don't, if you ask me. I will explain. 1) Because, certain information can be considered valuable - For example old comments from friends/family on relevant photos, semi-private get-togethers/events, etc. Because all these can be considered as good memory/archives of your personal life and the stuff that reminds people of their relationship with you. For me I consider, these valuable, so it's a no no to delete my profile as I will end up losing these. I can technically take a back up if I want, but who opens their backed up index.html once a week, if not daily? However, leaving your profile undeleted means you lose a lot of privacy. So how am I going to hide my profile if it's publicly searchable? First, understand that your live profile is not only searchable, but also indexable by google. Facebook ALSO hands over the stuff you 'like' to search engines. So, you now like a famous pornstar's fan page/even her post? Well, good luck getting it removed from Google! All I need to do to find out what you've liked on facebook is search for your name in quotes: "<insert your name here>" or even: site:http://facebook.com "<insert name here>" While this heavily depends on the uniqueness of your name, it also means that it sucks if you are a professional seeking a job or in a similar situation and all Google returns for querying your name is a list of pornstars you've liked on Facebook. Pornstars are probably an over-rated example, but in many cases it could really be awkward - your views against a particular ideology (feminism/masculism/atheism, for example) and sensitive stuff like that. Because if you like something, it means you "support it". That's how it's perceived, atleast. 2) So, back to my point. Deleting is too extreme. Why? Because deleting also makes you lose control of what's out there. If I am correct, I've observed in the past that even deleted profiles are not actually deleted, but are assigned an empty profile with just your name and the default profile picture and this stuff is still sent to search engines. So, if you delete your profile, you lose control over this. What I may suggest doing is temporarily deactivate your profile (There's an option for this.). This will actually make your profile totally invisible (from search and indexing) and also from my observations, temporarily un-index you from search engines. This is good because you still have control over your profile, you own your data and search engine visibility. So, what I technically do is, login into Facebook to check what my friends are upto, say once or twice a month, and then deactivate it. For example, I like to keep additional family and friends separate and hence I maintain multiple additional profiles for them, distinctive from my main profile, instead of using Facebook's unreliably stupid privacy system (circles). Now, I wouldn't want my friends to discover my family profile and vice versa. Then, there's the list of dudes whom I will never want to add me, ever. So, maintaining multiple profiles also, helps me maintain a fake presence on Facebook, while also masking my search engine visibility of my real profile with the fake profiles. This works well for me, ymmv. So, just think twice before deleting your profile. Cheers.
b1daly 13y ago
Not exactly on topic, but related: with all the revelations around the NSA spying, I've started thinking about the internet as basically a non-private space. It's a distributed network, and data passes through myriad corporate and governmental infrastructure. Anything you want to keep a secret, you just can't put it on the internet. On some level, the power of the internet is connected with this non-private nature. I've never understood what the argument for widespread adoption of encryption on the internet was. To get the same utility, you'd have to have a huge "private" network, which would quickly become non-private again. In light of this, it is disturbing that more and more systems of society are being moved on to the internet. Health records being particularly omninous. You can choose not to post or have profiles on social networks. It looks going forward we will no longer have the option to keep private medical info private.
netcan 13y ago
I feel like there is something bigger in play. All the various from state access to "private" communications, social networks becoming more public and all the different miscellaneous privacy issues are all different aspects or consequences of the Thing. The move towards complete availability of all digital information seems to be a force of history. Privacy advocates are beginning to sound like copyright advocates, demanding that the universe continue providing for them in the manner to which they have grown accustomed. Like copyright/IP, privacy is more about use getting used to (and in some cases legislating) how things happen to be, not predesigned or derived from first principle rules or morality. If 99% of your existence occurs within a community of 150 people, very little is private. When you live in a 20th center city, you get a lot of anonymity. You can keep private life (even several of these) separate from your professional life. etc. Those were just inevitable consequences of how those societies were structured. The internet was at first an anonymous place. Pre-2000 most people seemed to share the feeling that if their real name found its way to the world wide web, serial killers would come. Then 2000-2005 people started keeping online diaries, online photo libraries, online lots of personal information. Facebook catalyzed this process with a semi private system of friends that matched what people were used to in their normal lives. The force of history that is 'all your data available to everyone everywhere' feels unstoppable. Data is data. It doesn't care if it's an email, SMS, baby photo or GPS log. It doesn't get deleted. Maybe "Information wants to be free" was an understatement. I feel very awkward trying to describe this, a clear sign that I don't understand it. I wish pg Joel Spolsky, Chris Anderson (or ideally, Douglas Adams - I really wish we still had him) or someone else who's good at this sort of abstract thing would write a good piece on it.
- jchung 13y ago
  I think the talk Bruce Schneier gave at TEDxCambridge a month ago is what you're looking for: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h0d_QDgl3gI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dh0d_QDgl3gI http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h0d_QDgl3gI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatc...
- mattlutze 13y ago
  We see the movement in the geopolitical annexation of the Internet, as well. Brasil looking to bypass US network infrastructure, Germany's continuing struggle with loosening GEMA's grip on content, are just more stories in the slow march toward governments learning how to make the net "theirs" instead of leaving it free. Though, obviously, the whole "Let the NGOs in the US guide and manage the world's Internet, we'll be cool and keep our hands off, honest!" argument has been blown to bits as the Internet hasn't really ever been free-and-in-the-open.
tonyplee 13y ago
Looks like a class action lawsuit in the near future for anyone harassed by ex-boy/girl friends, lovers, husband/wife who find such info via FB. Lawyers can now test market your class action lawsuit with $100 of FB ads. MVL - Minimal Viable Lawsuit. Like/G+ by Eric Ries. :-)
joeblau 13y ago
Is there a tool to purge your Facebook profile?

248 points by austenallred 13y ago

In case this saves anyone some time... https://www.facebook.com/help/www/224562897555674 https://www.facebook.com/help/www/224562897555674

k3n 13y ago
I don't think they know what "permanently" means.
- recycleme 13y ago
  After you choose to "permanently" delete your account, you'll get a message that says, "Your personal account was recently disabled by Facebook" two weeks later.
- thex86 13y ago
  "Then, if you'd like your account permanently deleted with no option for recovery, log into your account and fill out this form." So it is possible to delete your account "completely". I did this once and I have never been more happier. I actually spent time being tense when Facebook rolled out a new privacy blunder and would rush to check all settings. Imagine the time wasted. So to all those who are contemplating deleting the account but can't - do it. It's totally worth it.
  - k3n 13y ago
    What I was referring to is the fact that they likely never delete your info, they just set disabled=1, recoverable=0. I have heard anecdotal accounts[1] and read the writing on the wall[2], along with a hunch, that they would rather not delete data unless compelled to. Disk space is probably the cheapest its ever been, and there's a lot that you could learn from one's profile data, and they undoubtedly data-mine (and probably sell) it regardless of your disabled status. A 3rd party might be more interested in your data, say maybe if they determined that their demographic shows a strong inverse correlation with FB activity. Or maybe the 3rd party feels that they've already saturated the FB market, and is looking for leads in new markets. Facebook themselves would stand to gain from crunching numbers to try and determine why people leave, since that is lost revenues for them. Although, I hear that the EU (or maybe just the UK?) has strict provisions around keeping data, and so those users who choose to delete their account really do have their data wiped. But not the rest of us. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3145987 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3145987 2. http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/08/29/facebook-reminds-users-all-your-data-is-fair-game/ http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/08/29/facebook-reminds-user...
    - ecdavis 13y ago
      "When you delete an account, it is permanently deleted from Facebook. It typically takes about one month to delete an account, but some information may remain in backup copies and logs for up to 90 days. You should only delete your account if you are sure you never want to reactivate it. You can delete your account here. Certain information is needed to provide you with services, so we only delete this information after you delete your account. Some of the things you do on Facebook aren't stored in your account, like posting to a group or sending someone a message (where your friend may still have a message you sent, even after you delete your account). That information remains after you delete your account."[1] "Maybe that was true in the past, but today when you delete your data it is gone. Trust me, I wrote it myself. The law enforcement guidelines that have been circulating recently corroborate this."[2] I do wonder what sort of "things you do on Facebook" aren't stored on your account, though. [1] https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/your-info#deletion https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/your-info#deletion [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3320240 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3320240
    - tilsammans 13y ago
      I deleted, really really deleted my Facebook account a couple of years ago and always suspected they kept it alive. I am in Europe, so Facebook falls under the EU privacy directives. Recently I requested them to hand over all information they have on file about me. This was done through official channels, also involving the Data Protection Commissioner. The response was they had nothing about me on file. It's possible that they even lied about this, but it seems unlikely at this point. So at least for Europeans it seems you can really have your information purged.
  - pessimizer 13y ago
    No option for recovery by the person whose account it was. Facebook is probably still holding the data. I hope I got out early enough that I may have actually gotten deleted at some point. I can't remember how many years ago it was, but it was after a few facebook creep cycles (things like this that hit the news) not super-early like some people.
- junto 13y ago
  Even though @PeterHunt apparently wrote this deletion feature, and stated on HN that your information really is deleted [1], I still don't believe him. Even if he is genuine, there is nothing to prove that since he wrote it, Facebook haven't changed that policy. That is Facebook's core problem. They are the boy that cried wolf. We have seen them lie about privacy. We have seen how they have eroded our privacy, sometimes deliberately and sometimes by mistake. More importantly, we have seen them make these invasions into our privacy, and genuinely not seem to care. The take-way from this, is that Facebook has become untrustable. As more people realize that, the more people will start deleting their accounts. The challenge is (as a person that has deleted their Facebook account), is that you have to overcome the addiction and then the deal with the loss. You have to finally accept that the things you think you are missing out on really aren't that important. I personally found this quite hard to accept. Giving up Facebook and giving up smoking are relatively similar, and I've done both. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3320240 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3320240

recursive 13y ago

I know several people that misspell their own name on Facebook for this purpose. I imagine that if people still want to be unsearchable, this is what they'll do.

psbp 13y ago
Or,you know, just stop using facebook. The degree to which users are accommodating Facebook's increasingly onerous privacy policies is becoming ridiculous.
- recursive 13y ago
  If you stop using facebook, then you also lose the benefits of facebook. Some people want to use facebook, but not be searchable by name. It is not difficult to change one's name on facebook, so I hardly think it's a ridiculous response.
  - psbp 13y ago
    The benefits of facebook? What, that they're holding my relationships hostage behind a wall? Again, the lengths that users are going to so that they can use a basic utility without being manipulated and taken advantage of is ridiculous.
    - pavel_lishin 13y ago
      Nearly all of my friends use Facebook for scheduling events. If you can tell me how I can convince them all to switch to another service, I'll delete my Facebook account. Ideally, this plan will also work for when that service becomes a burden, so I can continue asking my friends to switch to new services. Also, I know I could just talk to my friends more often, and ask them regularly if there are events they've forgotten to invite me to, but that will make me sound needy and pathetic, much like someone refusing to own a telephone, and instead showing up at their friends' houses unannounced, just in case they had something to communicate.

JoeCortopassi 13y ago

That's cute. Guess there's always one other option, for people that don't want to/can't let themselves be searchable by name delete's Facebook account

ryanhuff 13y ago
Or change your name to an alias.
- McPants 13y ago
  I recently tried to do this. Facebook actually will recognize if a name sounds "too fake" and reject it, saying that you can only use a real name. https://www.facebook.com/help/112146705538576 https://www.facebook.com/help/112146705538576 Facebook is just shooting themselves in the foot. Instead of accommodating for it's users it wants its users to accommodate for facebook. These decisions are just silly and a slap in the face to anyone who wants a shred of privacy.
  - MAGZine 13y ago
    I used my middle name as my last name. My name became incredibly generic when I did this, so bonus points for unsearchability.
  - EvanKelly 13y ago
    That's interesting, I recently had a friend change his name to something analagous to "SunBurned". I thought it was bizarre, and maybe just temporary, but it's there, and since I have my contacts merged in my phone, I have to remember to search for SunBurned rather than his name when I want to text him.
  - desas 13y ago
    My name is very unusual, so unusual that other family members haven't been able to sign-up with our surname for the three or four years as it's "too fake".
  - aroman 13y ago

protomyth 13y ago

I cannot wait until we get founders / decision makers at these social network companies that have to hide from an abusive spouse / ex so that safety of users might be somewhat of a priority. The "well, don't use it" response is utter crap given how many real life functions are being tied into these social networks.

judk 13y ago
What is a stalker going to do with access to only your public profile data? Your stalker already had access to that from every tag and mention of you anywhere on Facebook.
- riquito 13y ago
  The moment that you wrongly publish something as public and he his monitoring your account, or when Facebook decides that addresses/events are public too, you are ed up
  - lelandbatey 13y ago
    I just... What? Do people really consent to share that kind of their information? I'm just surprised that people would use Facebook as such an "everything" platform for all the bits of data in their lives. I guess I've always kept relatively tight control over my data, at least whether I want aspects of data about me to be public. I say that even though I make a tremendous amount of information about me very accessible (name, age, address, family, phone number, email address, etc). However, for other people who don't have that luxury, I wonder why in the world they're using Facebook?
    - protomyth 13y ago
      Yes, they do. A lot of people manage their lives via Facebook. It is scary and amazing at the same time.
      - tedunangst 13y ago

adrr 13y ago

Can't wait for the influx of friend invites of people i barely know. The feature was great to keep my profile hidden except to my close friends.

inversesquare 13y ago

Best oxymoron ever...'Facebook privacy settings'.

logicallee 13y ago

a big "fuck you" to anyone with an unusual name.

lelandbatey 13y ago
How is this detrimental to those with an unusual name? I ask because I have an unusual name (I've never met another "Leland") and I never set my name to be unsearchable, and I've not had any problems because of this. What bad things are going to happen?
- logicallee 13y ago
  It's just unfair, users aren't on equal footing with respect to privacy. anyone you send a resume to can search for your facebook and know for sure it's you, for example. (just one example).
  - lelandbatey 13y ago
    I can see that. But what if they just typed your name into Google? Isn't that the same thing? Why doesn't that bother us?
- auctiontheory 13y ago
  If your name is Mike Smith or Chris Wong or Jane Lee, you can murder and rape and pillage with the confidence that once you are out of prison, you'll be "anonymous" on social media - you can hide in plain sight. On the other hand, if the spelling of your name is unique in the digital world, as mine appears to be, everything you say and do online can be traced to you individually. (By employers, for instance. Who want to know how old you are, or whether you're married, or how you spend your spare time. To pick a bland example from among hundreds.)
  - yeukhon 13y ago
    I find your idea pretty shock. I never thought of that. But then again, if there is a crime, there is certainly an evidence. The thing is that evidence is hard to trace. For example, hair and dead skin. it's just hard to find - you can end up with 10000 individual hair sample on the crime scene.

k-mcgrady 13y ago

I've always defended Facebook and found it really useful. However recently I've noticed how little I use it and that I could (and would like to) delete my account. There is one thing holding me back though. Photos. When I'm out with friends etc. I don't take photos. There are usually one or two people who do and I can rely on those photos being made available to me through Facebook/tagging. If I delete my Facebook account I lose the opportunity to view/save those photos.

visakanv 13y ago
I deactivated my Facebook profile for several months. Didn't miss the photos. Came back. Photos start to look silly, pointless, trivial. If I really, really want to see something, I'll ask a friend to show it to me over his/her phone.
- k-mcgrady 13y ago
  I personally enjoy looking back on old photos every now and then. It's not really so I can look at them the next day. I know for sure I would miss that every now and then.I guess the solution is just for me to take more pictures instead of relying on other people.

EvanKelly 13y ago

I certainly support the argument that this type of option should be the users' choice, but I'm curious by how many people seem to want to subvert this so that they remain unsearchable. I use Facebook so that I can connect with people I meet. If I don't exchange contact info with someone I meet, but they know my name, it's great for them to search and find me on Facebook. I don't want my Facebook connections to solely be people I choose to friend. I guess it boils down to how people use the service. Real Question: Why do you have an account, but not want people to be able to find you? EDIT: Thanks for the responses, some of them make a lot of sense that I didn't think of initially.

marquis 13y ago
>Why do you have an account, but not want people to be able to find you? It's a placeholder for Pages, and for the rare case I want to see baby photos. * edit: not to encourage FB but would probably pay for a business page that didn't need a personal email or setting up a fake account just carry it.
Balgair 13y ago
Because I want to share 'things' with the people in my social network and have no desire to share things with people outside of it like: employers, prospective employers, lawyers, police officers, people I do like but didn't want to hang out with more than that one night, etc.
- EvanKelly 13y ago
  My understanding is the privacy settings will still exist and function. You have every ability to decline friend requests from the people you listed. I suppose there are social ramifications to declining a friend request from people you may see semi-regularly.
glomph 13y ago
Lots of people need that. Teachers, doctors, social workers, care workers, people who work in/out of prisons, people who have had violent spouses/family members and this is just off the top of my head. The list goes on. It is frustrating that the largest social media network is darn right hostile to large swathes of people. Lots of events and groups solely exist on facebook. I think it is kind of awful that we let a company cut people out of their real life social networks just because they have stronger privacy requirements than 'normal' people.

erbo 13y ago

It seems that GTAV's parody of Facebook as "LifeInvader" was even more spot-on than Rockstar Games realized. (I wasn't among those that objected to the "Friend Request" mission. After all, who hasn't wanted to blow Zuck's head off at one time or another? :-) )

joeblau 13y ago
You've gotta preface this with "spoiler alert"

ape4 13y ago

Facebook's main advantage over Twitter was the private-amoung-friends thing. I wonder why they are trying to kill the thing that sets them apart.

lmm 13y ago
No, facebook's main advantage was that you had enough room to write messages with some content in. And that there was a dedicated events-organizing system.

TheLoneWolfling 13y ago

So does anyone have an alternative? I've seen various suggestions of upcoming alternatives, but nothing concrete.

pasbesoin 13y ago

For many who have exited an abusive relationship, this represents nothing less than a complete betrayal by Facebook. I have a family member in such a situation. Fortunately, they have stayed away from Facebook and other social media out of fear of something like this. Congratulations, guys (and I choose that term somewhat deliberately, with reference to gender bias in domestic violence statistics): You've just branded yourselves as well as your product assholes.

tekk 13y ago

To be honest, I don't think they are going to go through with this. They are feeding news sites with this, people will "outrage" and then facebook will pull back and it'll seem like they actually care about privacy. Nice publicity stunt.

neya 13y ago

Many people are suggesting that we delete our profiles. Don't, if you ask me. I will explain. 1) Because, certain information can be considered valuable - For example old comments from friends/family on relevant photos, semi-private get-togethers/events, etc. Because all these can be considered as good memory/archives of your personal life and the stuff that reminds people of their relationship with you. For me I consider, these valuable, so it's a no no to delete my profile as I will end up losing these. I can technically take a back up if I want, but who opens their backed up index.html once a week, if not daily? However, leaving your profile undeleted means you lose a lot of privacy. So how am I going to hide my profile if it's publicly searchable? First, understand that your live profile is not only searchable, but also indexable by google. Facebook ALSO hands over the stuff you 'like' to search engines. So, you now like a famous pornstar's fan page/even her post? Well, good luck getting it removed from Google! All I need to do to find out what you've liked on facebook is search for your name in quotes: "<insert your name here>" or even: site:http://facebook.com "<insert name here>" While this heavily depends on the uniqueness of your name, it also means that it sucks if you are a professional seeking a job or in a similar situation and all Google returns for querying your name is a list of pornstars you've liked on Facebook. Pornstars are probably an over-rated example, but in many cases it could really be awkward - your views against a particular ideology (feminism/masculism/atheism, for example) and sensitive stuff like that. Because if you like something, it means you "support it". That's how it's perceived, atleast. 2) So, back to my point. Deleting is too extreme. Why? Because deleting also makes you lose control of what's out there. If I am correct, I've observed in the past that even deleted profiles are not actually deleted, but are assigned an empty profile with just your name and the default profile picture and this stuff is still sent to search engines. So, if you delete your profile, you lose control over this. What I may suggest doing is temporarily deactivate your profile (There's an option for this.). This will actually make your profile totally invisible (from search and indexing) and also from my observations, temporarily un-index you from search engines. This is good because you still have control over your profile, you own your data and search engine visibility. So, what I technically do is, login into Facebook to check what my friends are upto, say once or twice a month, and then deactivate it. For example, I like to keep additional family and friends separate and hence I maintain multiple additional profiles for them, distinctive from my main profile, instead of using Facebook's unreliably stupid privacy system (circles). Now, I wouldn't want my friends to discover my family profile and vice versa. Then, there's the list of dudes whom I will never want to add me, ever. So, maintaining multiple profiles also, helps me maintain a fake presence on Facebook, while also masking my search engine visibility of my real profile with the fake profiles. This works well for me, ymmv. So, just think twice before deleting your profile. Cheers.

b1daly 13y ago

Not exactly on topic, but related: with all the revelations around the NSA spying, I've started thinking about the internet as basically a non-private space. It's a distributed network, and data passes through myriad corporate and governmental infrastructure. Anything you want to keep a secret, you just can't put it on the internet. On some level, the power of the internet is connected with this non-private nature. I've never understood what the argument for widespread adoption of encryption on the internet was. To get the same utility, you'd have to have a huge "private" network, which would quickly become non-private again. In light of this, it is disturbing that more and more systems of society are being moved on to the internet. Health records being particularly omninous. You can choose not to post or have profiles on social networks. It looks going forward we will no longer have the option to keep private medical info private.

netcan 13y ago

I feel like there is something bigger in play. All the various from state access to "private" communications, social networks becoming more public and all the different miscellaneous privacy issues are all different aspects or consequences of the Thing. The move towards complete availability of all digital information seems to be a force of history. Privacy advocates are beginning to sound like copyright advocates, demanding that the universe continue providing for them in the manner to which they have grown accustomed. Like copyright/IP, privacy is more about use getting used to (and in some cases legislating) how things happen to be, not predesigned or derived from first principle rules or morality. If 99% of your existence occurs within a community of 150 people, very little is private. When you live in a 20th center city, you get a lot of anonymity. You can keep private life (even several of these) separate from your professional life. etc. Those were just inevitable consequences of how those societies were structured. The internet was at first an anonymous place. Pre-2000 most people seemed to share the feeling that if their real name found its way to the world wide web, serial killers would come. Then 2000-2005 people started keeping online diaries, online photo libraries, online lots of personal information. Facebook catalyzed this process with a semi private system of friends that matched what people were used to in their normal lives. The force of history that is 'all your data available to everyone everywhere' feels unstoppable. Data is data. It doesn't care if it's an email, SMS, baby photo or GPS log. It doesn't get deleted. Maybe "Information wants to be free" was an understatement. I feel very awkward trying to describe this, a clear sign that I don't understand it. I wish pg Joel Spolsky, Chris Anderson (or ideally, Douglas Adams - I really wish we still had him) or someone else who's good at this sort of abstract thing would write a good piece on it.

jchung 13y ago
I think the talk Bruce Schneier gave at TEDxCambridge a month ago is what you're looking for: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h0d_QDgl3gI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dh0d_QDgl3gI http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h0d_QDgl3gI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatc...
mattlutze 13y ago
We see the movement in the geopolitical annexation of the Internet, as well. Brasil looking to bypass US network infrastructure, Germany's continuing struggle with loosening GEMA's grip on content, are just more stories in the slow march toward governments learning how to make the net "theirs" instead of leaving it free. Though, obviously, the whole "Let the NGOs in the US guide and manage the world's Internet, we'll be cool and keep our hands off, honest!" argument has been blown to bits as the Internet hasn't really ever been free-and-in-the-open.

tonyplee 13y ago

Looks like a class action lawsuit in the near future for anyone harassed by ex-boy/girl friends, lovers, husband/wife who find such info via FB. Lawyers can now test market your class action lawsuit with $100 of FB ads. MVL - Minimal Viable Lawsuit. Like/G+ by Eric Ries. :-)

joeblau 13y ago

Is there a tool to purge your Facebook profile?