On Tue, 2011-05-24 at 12:28 -0700, Joshua Lutes wrote: > What are they going to do with this information though? Should it matter to > me that they are aware of who my friends are? My understanding is that they > use the data to target advertising. Whatever.
Ignoring the whole dystopian conspiracy angle which I consider valid, but most people don't care about... When a total stranger can find out information that used to be available to intimate friend only, that's a security risk. Social engineering is much easier if an attacker can drop a few details into the conversation to make it sound like he's more connected than he really is. Identity theft, financial fraund, data intrusion, etc. There are documented cases demonstrating that burglars find social media a very useful resource. They can build a "shopping list" based on the photos from the party you held three months ago, and schedule a visit based on your wife's posts to her wall. And then, of course, there's the times when you prefer not to be found. Remember that credit card from back in college? The one you forgot to close? Well the credit collectors do and its been racking up fees. Because you're not answering your phone they're going to call your mother, neighbors, priest, and girlfriend to pressure you. Whatever. /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
