Facebook Tracks What We Do? Get Out!

There have been several articles posted in the last few days regarding an interview with an anonymous Facebook employee.

Some believe the interview is a hoax, while others believe it’s very real.

The point is, if the interview is real, nobody should be shocked by the fact that Facebook is tracking what we do while on the site.

If you aren’t familiar with this controversial interview as of yet, here are the meat and potatoes:

* Facebook tracks and saves everything you do while on the site, even if you deleted it. From who’s profile you view, your status updates, the messages you send, the pictures you upload, etc.

* Facebook determines who your “best friends” are by taking into account who’s profile you view, the photos you’re tagged in with people, the people you interact with through messages, etc.

* Facebook employees had a master password (now defunct) where they could type in any user’s ID and access their profile. The password was created for Facebook engineers but any employee could find it if they knew where to look.

* This master password was abused at least two times, as two Facebook employees were fired because of their violations.

* Facebook employees have a tool that allows them to log-in under other users accounts, however, the employees must  explain why they are doing so i.e.  investigating compromised accounts, etc.

* Facebook engineers are in the process of rewriting the site, moving from a scripted language to a compiled language, which will help Facebook load faster.

Personal privacy is a touchy subject for many. And as we continue to move forward, it seems privacy has become less and less important. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch put in best in an article he wrote Tuesday: the benefits of using products that ‘invade’ one’s privacy like Facebook, GMail, credit cards, GPS systems and cell phones, outweigh the costs of privacy.

What are your thoughts about personal privacy in this day and age?