Boil the Frog Slowly: A Facebook Privacy Map

You are the frog and Facebook is the slowly boiling water. Here is an excellent visual representation of how your default Facebook Privacy Settings have changed over the years. If you want to see the interactive version, click on the picture below and it will take you to the website where you can click on the image year by year and watch your privacy erode. Essentially, the amount of blue on the chart is how much of your information Facebook is sharing with the outside world. Can you say boil the frog slowly?

I found this map in a revealing article on Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerburg published by The Register (U.K.).

The first source for the disturbing comments attributed to Zuckerburg were pointed out to me by my lead researcher, Liz. This article on Mr. Zuckerburg calling his first Facebook users dumbf*&%#$. appeared on Gawker.com.

The article points out that we cannot be certain how the comments were intended (as a joke?) or if they were actually said by Zuckerburg, but if they were, it demonstrates what the rest of us know in our hearts and minds – we are sharing too much about ourselves on social networking sites. Thanks to these articles and others for the wake up call. See yesterday’s post on deleting your Facebook profile.

Order your copy of the Facebook Safety Survival Guide to make sure you and your children are protected online.

John Sileo became America’s leading Identity Theft Expert and Facebook Speaker after losing his business and more than $300,000 to data theft. His clients include the FTC, the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC. Watch him humorously perform Fraud Training for the Department of Defense, contact him by email, or speak with him directly about protecting your information on 800.258.8076.