Speaking of FB . . .

[kenny]

Insurance companies, and others, are now scouring social media sites for evidence of fraud.

Like, you have lots of insurance claims about your bad back, but you post on FB that you run in marathons.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facebook-evidence-20110125,0,4304729.story

SNIP, "Social-networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace have become the go-to places where employers, college admissions officers and divorce lawyers can do background checks.".

I'm SO glad I deleted my FB acct after my brief visit, even if I did used an anonymous name.

 

[Haven]

That's very interesting.

Does anyone know--if I have my settings set to private, and I'm unsearchable, can these insurance companies find me? I always wonder, because how many people have their information set to be public? Are there really many people who allow strangers to view their pages.

I'm interested to see divorce lawyers in that list. My BIL had a horrible divorce, and his ex was posting ridiculous, un-mommy things on FB, but the judge did not care to see any of it at all. (Some were things like--The kids go back to school today, THANK G-D! Freedom, again!"

 

[Tuckins1]

Interesting. I don't have FB, so I don't really know how it works. But, anything you post on a social networking site, even when it's "private"- is public. Example- a family member was gong through a really nasty custody battle with an ex. She had her account set to private, but her ex knew people who knew people, and was round about able to read her FB page. She had posted some nasty comments about the custody case worker, which he printed out and showed the court!! It's always possible for someone to find what they're looking for...

 

[perry]

I agree with Tuckins1:

Unless you go to some fairly extreme measures (which with one exception all cost additional money) - everything you post or send on the internet (or via email) is in the public domain.

The exception is that in order for commerce to exist everyone got together and provided reasonable security for password pages and credit card transactions (SSL pages) in the browsers: Look for the lock symbol on the page....

Beyond that - prepare to spend money and to install additional programs to protect your information and to encrypt your email (which the recipients will need to be able to unencrypted).

I note that the key reason Blackberry is in business is because they can encrypt messages between the phone and your companies computer. Not even Blackberry can read it.

Perry

 

[charbie]

I've been a member of facebook for about 6 and a half years now, and this has been an issue for about 5 of those.

EDIT: somehow I hit submit before I was finished. I knew student RAs in the dorms in college who lost their jobs thanks to pictures posted on FB. I guess I have no issue with my info being out there. I don't have that much personal stuff on there, and I've made private things I don't want to share with the world. I've opted not to "friend" anny current coworkers, and frequently go through my friend list and determine who I don't really communicate with anymore. I think since FB has become so integrated with my daily life, and im part of the FB generation who grew up social networking, im aware my whole life will now need to be secure on the internet as much as possible.

I've also felt that thanks to FB, I have a better relationship with family members who live out of state. We can on a daily basis keep up with one another without long drawn out conversations. And when we get together, we have more to talk about since we've kept up on FB and know what each others been doing.

 

[Shoopy]

That's very interesting.

Does anyone know--if I have my settings set to private, and I'm unsearchable, can these insurance companies find me? I always wonder, because how many people have their information set to be public? Are there really many people who allow strangers to view their pages.

I'm interested to see divorce lawyers in that list. My BIL had a horrible divorce, and his ex was posting ridiculous, un-mommy things on FB, but the judge did not care to see any of it at all. (Some were things like--The kids go back to school today, THANK G-D! Freedom, again!"

It's not really your settings that is the problem. It's the settings of your friends.

I am completely private on Facebook. But if a friend tags me in a pic and isn't private, then anyone can see that pic. Anyone can see my comments on their wall or status.

I had a friend on facebook that just so happened to be on a baby forum with me. She didn't care about her privacy at all and was always sharing her photo albums publicly which would include comments made by me. My picture would be one of my daughter so the girls on the baby site would recognize her picture and find me that way. I finally deleted her. It irritates me that others don't care as much about their privacy and put your info at risk.

 

[Haven]

Oooh, Fiery, that's a sticky situation. I would have deleted that "friend" as well.

I think it's a good thing I don't have a lot of friends on Facebook, and the ones that I do are as freaky about privacy as I am.

DH and I also use a fake surname because I don't want my real name to be anywhere on that site. No, siree.

 

[zoebartlett]

A high school teacher friend of mine said she knew of another teacher who was interviewing for a new position once. Somehow her interviewers got a hold of her FB page/account and saw a few things that they felt was inappropriate. She didn't get the job. I always just assume that whatever you put out there can be found, regardless of the privacy settings you choose.

 

[Tuckins1]

A high school teacher friend of mine said she knew of another teacher who was interviewing for a new position once. Somehow her interviewers got a hold of her FB page/account and saw a few things that they felt was inappropriate. She didn't get the job. I always just assume that whatever you put out there can be found, regardless of the privacy settings you choose.

Zoe, we had a teacher a few years ago that was AWFUL!!! She was going on FB, during school hours, and posting things like "these kids are all f'ing retarded, I hate all the b!tche$ I work with, the principal is a ----", etc...... She actually quit before they could fire her, but talk about un-professional! Thank god she decided teaching wasn't for her and went into a different line of work, she was a beast!

 

[Cehrabehra]

I don't have anything to hide. I'm not out to defraud anyone or defame anyone. I post pictures of my travels and keep up to date with mostly mundane things that make the crux of the majority of our relationships. I don't worry about being overheard at starbucks either.

 

[Cehrabehra]

That's very interesting.

Does anyone know--if I have my settings set to private, and I'm unsearchable, can these insurance companies find me? I always wonder, because how many people have their information set to be public? Are there really many people who allow strangers to view their pages.

I'm interested to see divorce lawyers in that list. My BIL had a horrible divorce, and his ex was posting ridiculous, un-mommy things on FB, but the judge did not care to see any of it at all. (Some were things like--The kids go back to school today, THANK G-D! Freedom, again!"

It's not really your settings that is the problem. It's the settings of your friends.

I am completely private on Facebook. But if a friend tags me in a pic and isn't private, then anyone can see that pic. Anyone can see my comments on their wall or status.

I had a friend on facebook that just so happened to be on a baby forum with me. She didn't care about her privacy at all and was always sharing her photo albums publicly which would include comments made by me. My picture would be one of my daughter so the girls on the baby site would recognize her picture and find me that way. I finally deleted her. It irritates me that others don't care as much about their privacy and put your info at risk.

you can make it so that photos that tag you cannot be seen by anyone but you.

 

[kenny]

About trusting security settings ...

I just don't trust FB in the long run because what they have is worth so much money to many entities now.
Also there is hacking and subpoenas.
I have nothing to hide from the government but that's not the point.

YMMV.

 

[y2kitty]

I delete everything off my page every 3 weeks.

 

[diva rose]

You can change all your setting to private on facebook.
It should be under the top right hand corner of the page under settings.

The only thing you cannot hide from people which upsets me is your profile photo.
In the past - fb didn't display profile photos if you have your photos on private setting.
However they decided to come up with this stupid rule about how it's for security purposes that your profile photo is available to the public. Hence - I would recommend making sure your profile photo is a distant shot.

You can check yourself here:
http://pipl.com/

 

[MonkeyPie]

Honestly? Stop posting things on the internet that you don't want The Powers That Be to see and you'll be fine. Sheesh.

I doubt anyone here does that, that's just my opinion. If someone gets busted for posting contradicting info on their FB then they deserve it.

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Does anyone know--if I have my settings set to private, and I'm unsearchable, can these insurance companies find me? I always wonder, because how many people have their information set to be public? Are there really many people who allow strangers to view their pages.

I'm interested to see divorce lawyers in that list. My BIL had a horrible divorce, and his ex was posting ridiculous, un-mommy things on FB, but the judge did not care to see any of it at all. (Some were things like--The kids go back to school today, THANK G-D! Freedom, again!"

With hacking software, all information put on facebook can be seen.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

You don't have to put a real photo of yourself for your profile shot. You can put a photo of rainbow or butterflies or whatever. There is no enforcement of a human being shot. Friends of mine have put up photos of places they've visited as their profile.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

That's very interesting.

Does anyone know--if I have my settings set to private, and I'm unsearchable, can these insurance companies find me? I always wonder, because how many people have their information set to be public? Are there really many people who allow strangers to view their pages.

I'm interested to see divorce lawyers in that list. My BIL had a horrible divorce, and his ex was posting ridiculous, un-mommy things on FB, but the judge did not care to see any of it at all. (Some were things like--The kids go back to school today, THANK G-D! Freedom, again!"

hahaha I think every mom has written that on their page at some point or another!

ETA - but, I don't know anything about the divorce, so I have no idea the details, obviously, but am just thinking after a summer with the kids, it's not entirely unmommy like to enjoy a day of quiet. lol I wasn't trying to offend or say anything rude, so hopefully my comment isn't offensive.

 

[Jennifer W]

That's very interesting.

Does anyone know--if I have my settings set to private, and I'm unsearchable, can these insurance companies find me? I always wonder, because how many people have their information set to be public? Are there really many people who allow strangers to view their pages.

I'm interested to see divorce lawyers in that list. My BIL had a horrible divorce, and his ex was posting ridiculous, un-mommy things on FB, but the judge did not care to see any of it at all. (Some were things like--The kids go back to school today, THANK G-D! Freedom, again!"

hahaha I think every mom has written that on their page at some point or another!

ETA - but, I don't know anything about the divorce, so I have no idea the details, obviously, but am just thinking after a summer with the kids, it's not entirely unmommy like to enjoy a day of quiet. lol I wasn't trying to offend or say anything rude, so hopefully my comment isn't offensive.

I was thinking exactly the same thing!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

That's very interesting.

Does anyone know--if I have my settings set to private, and I'm unsearchable, can these insurance companies find me? I always wonder, because how many people have their information set to be public? Are there really many people who allow strangers to view their pages.

I'm interested to see divorce lawyers in that list. My BIL had a horrible divorce, and his ex was posting ridiculous, un-mommy things on FB, but the judge did not care to see any of it at all. (Some were things like--The kids go back to school today, THANK G-D! Freedom, again!"

hahaha I think every mom has written that on their page at some point or another!

ETA - but, I don't know anything about the divorce, so I have no idea the details, obviously, but am just thinking after a summer with the kids, it's not entirely unmommy like to enjoy a day of quiet. lol I wasn't trying to offend or say anything rude, so hopefully my comment isn't offensive.

I was thinking exactly the same thing!

Even members of the PTA!!! lol

 

[Jennifer W]

That's very interesting.

Does anyone know--if I have my settings set to private, and I'm unsearchable, can these insurance companies find me? I always wonder, because how many people have their information set to be public? Are there really many people who allow strangers to view their pages.

I'm interested to see divorce lawyers in that list. My BIL had a horrible divorce, and his ex was posting ridiculous, un-mommy things on FB, but the judge did not care to see any of it at all. (Some were things like--The kids go back to school today, THANK G-D! Freedom, again!"

hahaha I think every mom has written that on their page at some point or another!

ETA - but, I don't know anything about the divorce, so I have no idea the details, obviously, but am just thinking after a summer with the kids, it's not entirely unmommy like to enjoy a day of quiet. lol I wasn't trying to offend or say anything rude, so hopefully my comment isn't offensive.

I was thinking exactly the same thing!

Even members of the PTA!!! lol

Especially them.

 

[Guilty Pleasure]

Honestly? Stop posting things on the internet that you don't want The Powers That Be to see and you'll be fine. Sheesh.

I doubt anyone here does that, that's just my opinion. If someone gets busted for posting contradicting info on their FB then they deserve it.

Amen! I don't put anything on facebook that I wouldn't want my M-I-L reading. I also don't think my life is so interesting that I post every thirty minutes about where I am or what I am doing. Therefore, even if some nut was trying to dig up details to ruin me or stalk me, he/she wouldn't find much material on my page. I do keep it all "private," but I still wouldn't post anything that I wouldn't want out in the world.

Facebook isn't evil by itself; it's all the attention-grabbers out there who shoot themselves in the foot.

 

[Sky56]

I keep the highest privacy settings, never a picture of me on my Profile pictures and my name is misspelled by one letter. I never post anything that is embarrassing or shameful. But, I do want to suggest something you should not do that many people on Facebook do and publicize. Their birthday! To protect yourself from identity theft, this and things such as your phone number should not be on your pages.

 

[zoebartlett]

A high school teacher friend of mine said she knew of another teacher who was interviewing for a new position once. Somehow her interviewers got a hold of her FB page/account and saw a few things that they felt was inappropriate. She didn't get the job. I always just assume that whatever you put out there can be found, regardless of the privacy settings you choose.

Zoe, we had a teacher a few years ago that was AWFUL!!! She was going on FB, during school hours, and posting things like "these kids are all f'ing retarded, I hate all the b!tche$ I work with, the principal is a ----", etc...... She actually quit before they could fire her, but talk about un-professional! Thank god she decided teaching wasn't for her and went into a different line of work, she was a beast!

Seriously?! First of all, WHY would a teacher post on FB at school, especially during school hours, using school computers? You'd have to be completely clueless to think that someone wouldn't find out.

Second of all, I wonder how many recommendations this girl you mentioned managed to get from former principals/coworkers/bosses. Why put yourself in that position, knowing that someday you'd want positive letters?

 

[ImperfectGirl]

Saw this today regarding privacy settings on FB...following these steps will make you as invisible as you can get on the site.

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111929/stealth-mode-making-yourself-nearly-invisible-on-facebook

 

[chemgirl]

Facebook is a nightmare if anyone is looking for information on you. Even things that aren't really a big deal can easily be twisted around.

DH's ex (and coworker) was facebook stalking him back in the summer and it lead to all sorts of problems. The biggest issue happened because the company wasn't supposed to be giving time off in August, but DH had pulled some all nighters to get projects done, so he was allowed a week off for our vacation. He was supposed to keep it quiet. He didn't tell anybody at work, but I told some of my friends. One of them posted on DH's wall about the trip. DH saw it right away and managed to delete it. He posted on that friend's wall to respond and he thought everything was fine. Well bad move on his part because his ex saw that he posted on an unknown (to her) female's wall and she went hunting. She messaged my friend and acted like she knew her so my friend messaged back. That somehow gave her access to my friend's wall and she saw DH's message. The following Monday was not good for DH because EVERYBODY knew about the preferential treatment and the CEO was mad that he was running his mouth off about it. Luckily it blew over, but there were a few tense weeks because of it.

Now we don't post anything. I don't trust privacy settings and I'm fairly sure somebody determined enough can get at your wall even if you're not their friend.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Facebook is a nightmare if anyone is looking for information on you. Even things that aren't really a big deal can easily be twisted around.

DH's ex (and coworker) was facebook stalking him back in the summer and it lead to all sorts of problems. The biggest issue happened because the company wasn't supposed to be giving time off in August, but DH had pulled some all nighters to get projects done, so he was allowed a week off for our vacation. He was supposed to keep it quiet. He didn't tell anybody at work, but I told some of my friends. One of them posted on DH's wall about the trip. DH saw it right away and managed to delete it. He posted on that friend's wall to respond and he thought everything was fine. Well bad move on his part because his ex saw that he posted on an unknown (to her) female's wall and she went hunting. She messaged my friend and acted like she knew her so my friend messaged back. That somehow gave her access to my friend's wall and she saw DH's message. The following Monday was not good for DH because EVERYBODY knew about the preferential treatment and the CEO was mad that he was running his mouth off about it. Luckily it blew over, but there were a few tense weeks because of it.

Now we don't post anything. I don't trust privacy settings and I'm fairly sure somebody determined enough can get at your wall even if you're not their friend.

Please tell me you reported her to FB, at the very least.

 

[Tuckins1]

A high school teacher friend of mine said she knew of another teacher who was interviewing for a new position once. Somehow her interviewers got a hold of her FB page/account and saw a few things that they felt was inappropriate. She didn't get the job. I always just assume that whatever you put out there can be found, regardless of the privacy settings you choose.

Zoe, we had a teacher a few years ago that was AWFUL!!! She was going on FB, during school hours, and posting things like "these kids are all f'ing retarded, I hate all the b!tche$ I work with, the principal is a ----", etc...... She actually quit before they could fire her, but talk about un-professional! Thank god she decided teaching wasn't for her and went into a different line of work, she was a beast!

Seriously?! First of all, WHY would a teacher post on FB at school, especially during school hours, using school computers? You'd have to be completely clueless to think that someone wouldn't find out.

Second of all, I wonder how many recommendations this girl you mentioned managed to get from former principals/coworkers/bosses. Why put yourself in that position, knowing that someday you'd want positive letters?

Yeah, she was terrible. She actually said she hates kids, so she went into the insurance business (or something like that). No recommendations needed. Oh, and when she quit, she just left a note on the principal's desk on Friday afternoon, hoping he wouldn't see it until after dismissal. In the note she tore him a new one, tore down the school, and basically made herself look like the b!tch she is. Good riddance.

 

[zoebartlett]

Tuckins -- All I have to say is

 

[chemgirl]

Facebook is a nightmare if anyone is looking for information on you. Even things that aren't really a big deal can easily be twisted around.

DH's ex (and coworker) was facebook stalking him back in the summer and it lead to all sorts of problems. The biggest issue happened because the company wasn't supposed to be giving time off in August, but DH had pulled some all nighters to get projects done, so he was allowed a week off for our vacation. He was supposed to keep it quiet. He didn't tell anybody at work, but I told some of my friends. One of them posted on DH's wall about the trip. DH saw it right away and managed to delete it. He posted on that friend's wall to respond and he thought everything was fine. Well bad move on his part because his ex saw that he posted on an unknown (to her) female's wall and she went hunting. She messaged my friend and acted like she knew her so my friend messaged back. That somehow gave her access to my friend's wall and she saw DH's message. The following Monday was not good for DH because EVERYBODY knew about the preferential treatment and the CEO was mad that he was running his mouth off about it. Luckily it blew over, but there were a few tense weeks because of it.

Now we don't post anything. I don't trust privacy settings and I'm fairly sure somebody determined enough can get at your wall even if you're not their friend.

Please tell me you reported her to FB, at the very least.

I didn't know you could do that if the content of the messages was non-threatening. Thanks, I'll have to keep that in mind if anything else happens. He didn't want to seem like a jerk to his coworkers so he didn't delete her or anything after the breakup...so she was technically still on his friend's list when that happened. He deleted and blocked her right after this incident though. Lucky (and unlucky) for us she made a few scenes at work after this and was let go a few weeks after the incident. I am nervous about everything though because he owns his own business and his other contact information (including our address) are fairly easy to find.