Personal privacy and security took a hit recently when both Facebook, headquartered in Menlo Park California and Google, headquartered in Mountain View California, announced some changes that are troubling, to say the least.
Facebook announced they would no longer allow users to keep their names hidden from searches. This makes it easier for someone to find you. It used to be users could keep their name out of any search results on the system. So for instance, if "Rumplestiltskin" had this setting turned on, a search for "Rumplestiltskin" would come up empty. Because Facebook was honoring the user’s anonymity request. Now, due to Facebook's policy change, this feature is no longer available. There is a large question looming out there, if this may be the final straw for some users who will leave Facebook.
In other news, Google has decided along with targeting ads to specific users (no surprise there) they would begin using Google Plus users profile pictures in ads which include ratings for a product or service. While some might say it’s not a big deal, think about how many people will see your face when they look up your negative review for a restaurant. Perhaps the owner or manager sees this review and decides never to serve you there again. While you can opt-out of this feature, new users appear to have it turned on by default. To check your settings, go to this link: https://plus.google.com/settings/endorsements?hl=en
