Social Networking: Do You Know Who Your Friends Are?
Page Media
An Online Privacy Fact Sheet from the ACLU
The more you connect online, the more digital footprints you leave behind.
The information you share on social networking sites is valuable. Social networking sites are an amazing way to connect with friends and family. But the information that these sites collect about you – not just what's on your profile but also the records of everything you do on the site – says a lot about your interests, habits, beliefs, and concerns. And outdated privacy laws, written before the Internet even existed, mean that even when you think your profile is "private," it isn't private to the government. Don't pay for social networking by giving up control of your personal information. Demand a privacy upgrade. Demand your dotRights.
You're connecting – and companies are keeping track
When you chat with friends in a coffee shop, no one stands next to you, taking notes on who you're talking to or what you talk about. But most social networking sites keep records of every friend you chat with, every status update you post, and every page you visit. They might keep these records about you and your online activities for years. They use this information to create a profile about you, and maybe to "customize" your online experience or to provide targeted advertising. They might also share it with or sell it to other companies. And you might not even know any of this is happening.
You're connecting – and the government is keeping track
Your profile and all the records collected by social networking sites are a treasure trove of details about your private life. And the government is taking advantage of loopholes and grey areas in outdated privacy laws to try to get its hands on this information without a search warrant reviewed and approved by a judge. Facebook has admitted that it gets up to 20 demands a day for information about its users – demands that a judge may have never seen!
Demand control of your social networking history
You deserve to be able to use social networking sites without having to worry that your personal information could end up being used in ways you never intended or imagined. It's time to upgrade privacy laws to keep our personal information safe. It's time to stop paying for new technology with our privacy. It's time to Demand our dotRights!
DOWNLOAD This One-Pager Social Networking
LEARN MORE: Visit dotRights.org to learn more and to sign up for dotRights updates
TAKE ACTION: Demand that companies tell you who's getting their hands on your information and that lawmakers update privacy law.
