Reputation Management, Internet Privacy, and Social Media Quick Hits

We hope you had a good Data Privacy Day yesterday, because we certainly did. ReputationDefender Founder and CEO Michael Fertik traveled to Washington D.C. to serve as the keynote speaker for a Microsoft-sponsored discussion on Internet privacy hosted by the Future of Privacy Forum. The event yielded some great discussion, which we hope to share in greater detail on the ReputationDefender Blog later today.

In the meantime, let’s get caught up on what the world of reputation management, Internet privacy, and social media is talking about today.

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Andy Beal Shares the Financial Dangers of Social Media

Andy Beal, a marketing expert and founder of the social media monitoring service Trackur, talks with Yahoo about the financial dangers of social media. He cites three broad examples: losing employment because of social media, the ability for creditors to track you down online, and the potential for social media-based scams. It’s a good post that definitely touches on the importance of proactively managing your image online.

Google’s Five Privacy Principles Mean What Exactly?

An article from Lora Bentley talks about how Google’s Five Privacy Principles are too vague to offer any real value to consumers. Lora’s insight and analysis is reminiscent of ReputationDefender Chief Privacy Officer Dave Thompson’s recent article on the same subject. One line in particular sums up Lora’s position nicely: “If privacy principles do nothing but leave users with the feeling they’re missing something, what good are they?” Hear, hear!

Google Social Search Severely Lacking Without Facebook

According to this article from PC World, the effectiveness of Google’s recently released public beta version of Social Search is significantly less useful than it could be because the vast majority of information on Facebook is not publicly searchable. So long as Facebook users display an understanding and desire to not share their content online, Google Social Search will be missing out on 350 million users’ worth of possible search information.

35% of Facebook Users Customized Privacy Settings After Switch

According to Facebook Director of Public Policy Tim Sparapani, speaking at a Federal Trade Commission round table at the UC Berkeley School of Law, 35% of Facebook users customized their privacy settings after Facebook made their policy shift in December. Because the industry average for people adjusting their settings is between 5% and 10%, this is being hailed by Facebook as proof that their efforts to give people more control have worked. In reality, this is probably a mixed blessing for Facebook. Yes, more people have taken action to secure their profiles, but in doing so they have also limited Facebook’s aims of becoming a truly public (read: open to indexing) social network.

Watch Out Social Media World, the European Union is Coming

Facebook, MySpace,  Twitter, and other social media sites may have to significantly alter their privacy policies in response to forthcoming legal changes from the European Union. According to EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, people should have the right “to say no…whenever they want” when it comes to data mining. Her position is that Internet companies have been too reactionary, only adjusting their policies when they have been criticized, when instead they should focus on delivering privacy value from the outset. If the EU really comes down hard on these Internet companies, it could make Facebook’s quarrel with Canada seem minor.

Drunk Driver Gets Jail Time Over Facebook Photo

Ars Technica covers the story of a teenage girl whose irresponsible behavior online has led to some significant legal problems offline. According to the story, the girl was the driver in a drunk driving accident that killed her passenger. After going to court, she pled guilty to negligent homicide, but was being charged as a youth. However, a month after the ruling, the girl went on vacation and promptly shared a photo on Facebook with a caption that said “Drunk in Florida.” The judge did not find her actions amusing and declared that she “hadn’t earned” youthful offender status, which means she is now facing six months in jail and five years probation.

Hacked Twitter Accounts Worth Thousands on the Black Market

This informative PC World article details the black market value of a stolen twitter account. From the article, “According to researchers at Kaspersky Lab, cybercriminals are trying to sell hacked Twitter user names and passwords on-line for hundreds of dollars…Bestuzhev said that one Twitter account, with just over 320 followers, was offered at $1,000 in an underground hacker forum.” Call me crazy, but I think the underground economy of hackers is fascinating, as long as it’s not your data they’re dealing of course. How much do you think your Twitter account could be worth to a hacker?

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