Is Your Facebook Profile As Private As You Think?: Via NPR.

Much has been made in recent years of the so-called Facebook generation, which supposedly consists of 20-somethings who like to go online and spill their guts without regard for privacy. The reality is more complex.

Yes, social network users post a lot of personal information. But they're sharing it within a circle of online "friends." And they fiercely resist outsiders' attempts to get a peek.

Last summer, city administrators in Bozeman, Mont., began requiring job applicants to provide usernames and passwords to their social networking accounts, as part of the background check. The new requirement caused such an uproar, the city manager held a press conference to apologize.

Social network users assume a degree of privacy within their circle of friends — but it's not a safe assumption to make. [ Read more ... ]

“Social Networking: The Challenges of Privacy and Openness” Video: Via CDT - PolicyBeta.

CDT and TRUSTe recently hosted “Social Networking: The Challenges of Privacy and Openness,” a discussion in their continuing Internet Policy Series. A five-minute video recapping the highlights of the event can be found here.

Held on the Google Campus in Mountain View, CA, on Oct. 7, the discussion was moderated by Fred Vogelstein of Wired Magazine and included a potent lineup of speakers: Chris Conley, Technology and Civil Liberties Fellow at ACLU Northern California; David Glazer, Engineering Director at Google and Board member of OpenSocial Foundation; and Tim Sparapani, Director of Public Policy at Facebook.

The speakers discussed the tensions that exist between privacy and openness in a social networking environment that is primarily intended for people to share information.

The discussion touched on trust between users and social networking sites, new definitions of privacy in the social networking world, the continuing evolution of users’ privacy expectations, and the limitations of giving users granular control of their personal information.

Read Original Article:(Via CDT - PolicyBeta.)