Re: [libreplanet-discuss] helping friends kill their facebook accounts

[J.B. Nicholson]

Serge wrote:
> Unless your friends who use Facebook don't actually upload photos of
> you and don't talk about you much.

I'm guessing it's pretty easy for organizations to browse the web, find 
images containing faces, index the faces, and tie that to extant records of 
people's identities. There's probably some profit to be had in doing this, 
and with records being increasingly available digitally it's a way one 
could convince others into believing this is a viable way of keeping track 
of someone's movements.

> I do realize that rarely happens though.

I don't know how any of us would know how frequently this happens and thus 
be able to back up that assertion.

> On the subject line, I think doing what was previously recommended
> would be best: personally let friends know, provide contacts and kill
> it off. I heard that Facebook permanently deletes all archived data
> after the account is kept disabled for a while, but I can't say if that
> is true or not.

Given how cheap storage is and how effective databases are at holding 
indexed data, I'd need good evidence to believe any claim that a wealthy 
organization (including Facebook, Microsoft, Google, etc.) whose value 
hinges on data collection and indexing would have incentive to get rid of 
old information. I'm guessing there's going to be more value in being able 
to say something akin to "I know who <person> was with 20 years ago when 
they were at a work conference in <location>, and I have street photos, 
purchase receipt data, cell phone[1] recordings, and cell phone location 
data to back up this claim.".

A lot follows from that ability to say that; imagine the detail shows like 
"Who Do You Think You Are?" could give future historians and researchers 
with surreptitiously acquired recordings. Mass surveillance on this scale 
is both scary to the public (who don't hesitate to carry their cell phones 
with them everywhere) and short-term profitable in a way big businesses 
won't hesitate to exploit.

> Actually, knowing Facebook's practices, it probably isn't, but I am
> certain there is a legal way of pressuring them into it if need be.

While I agree with the first part, I would believe the opposite about the 
second part -- I doubt there is any regime that could compel an 
organization to do that and I'd bet there are very easy ways to evade 
effectively deleting such information and verifying such deletions occurred.



[1] A misnomer if ever there was one, a better name is a "tracker" because 
that's the primary value of these devices to their manufacturers and 
service providers. Making phone calls, texts, multimedia recordings, and 
connecting to the Internet are come-ons to get people to acquire one.