The governmental Database known as Facebook.

Originally posted by vesta
reply to post by Unlimitedpossibilities

 

Too late they have your info...................lol

yeah I better just delete it now I guess...and fake my death...

All of the information that the government needs to deeply investigate your life is on Facebook, this is true.

However, all of that information is available from multiple other data sources as well. You are just making the job of investigating you a tad easier. If the government wants to pry and find all of this information out, they can. Nothing is stopping them from doing so.

Facebook is not the problem and without it, you are making the government do a little bit more work. The erosion of US privacy laws in exchange for "security" is what has allowed this situation to arise in the first place.

Starred and flagged, great post.

It's not just Facebook though is it?
Myspace, Livejournal, MSN to name three.

There was a tv program a month or so ago highlighting just how much personal information can be gleaned from social networking sites. Are they really a perfectly innocent tool for keeping in touch with friends or a perfectly inconspicuous data gathering tool set up by the government?

Worth a look?

Originally posted by bricmpt
Well, consider these data sources:

The social security number info system.
Police records.
Medical records.
Drivers liscences.
Bank accounts.
Phone records.
IP address logs.
Library book cards.
Cell phone GPS system.
Consumer databases.
Grocery store cards.
Surveys.
Windows XP registration.
Eschelon communication reaping.

What's the big deal about adding some facebook info unless you have avoided the above? It is WAY too late about the government organizing data about citizens. The only thing lacking is complete centralization of it all and I'm sure that is being adressed...

Yup, they already use datamatching in tax, social security etc. They can access your phone records, your bank account records. I don't think you need to worry too much about your facebook account as far as the govt is concerned. You'd have to be pretty foolish to post your phone number and address and the like on there anyway given the prevalence of identity theft - I'd be much more worried about that than the govt using it to extract personal info that they probably have on a dozen databases already.

Old news people said this about myspace years ago. Like others said there are other means of gaining information.

To go a bit more indepth with the subject, I had written a thread a year back about who ran facebook and who they link up with.

Facebook a CIA Front?

From my research, I feel strongly that Facebook was or still is a vested commercial and intelligence application for the Total Information Awareness project in order to gather census data on peoples traits, extended personal networks, and life habits.

Originally posted by mr-lizard
What i don't understand is why the Government would be interested in what your favourite beer is, or why you would have a silly conversation with your mate about the football or someone posting a message on a photo saying something like 'Lolz u look so wasted in dat photo'....

Oh but they ARE interested

www.newsday.com...

I have a band. It sucks because myspace has taken over band promotion. I don't really wanna be there, but it's free and it helps get my band's music heard, for whatever that's worth these days. I try not to think that it's such a big deal, just because guess who really owns the internet? G-O-V-T. Just think how easy it would be to gather all of our information and gain whole profiles on all of us from every one of these convenient communications technologies they've so graciously given us out of the kindness of their blessed little hearts, and then just think what could happen if an EMP blast or a solar flare or something bombards all of our electronics. They will have basically an organized profile of everyone who's ever used electronic means of transaction, communication, or data storage most likely stored on unimaginably powerful servers in a shielded underground area (if I were an evil genius, that's what I'd do)... and once the round up begins, they will have all the info, and we may have nothing other than hopefully if anyone has still been smart enough to keep written records... and "they" will have all the power of knowledge over us.

We have already surrendered to the New World Order. If they made it obvious, we'd have foiled their plans by now.

You guys do know that you don't have to write down every last bit of information about yourself on Facebook, don't you?

For example, the only information that I have listed (as far as I can remember) on Facebook is my name, age, city and state, college and graduation year, along with a few of my favorite music artist names.


Do you really think that big brother could not have gotten any of that info if it wasn't for Facebook? I mean if you're stupid enough to put everything about yourself online for everyone to see, then maybe you deserve to be taken advantage of.

As with everything else in life, a little common sense can go a long way.

Who wants a database filling with un-employed . Un-bang-able 30 something people that cant make friend in the real world?

Well i guess when i put it like that there gonna be the first to crack ..


Seriously who uses these sites besides 12 year olds acting 30 and 30 year olds acting 12?

like someone said before, any information you put on facebook the government already knows/has in their own databases. heck, no one puts their bank account or social security numbers on there and the government has that too. if anything, facebook allows companies to track what people like through their interests and applications so that they can better market to lucrative age groups...which would be the ages of 10-30 roughly.

I have not seen anyone post this video about Facebook yet. It has some good info in it, and for those who say "you are just being paranoid" should at least look into it also.



[edit on 27-9-2008 by Unmask The Deception]

Originally posted by mr-lizardIt's not like the Government DON'T have your address anyway is it?

Pfft, paranoia at its best.

Exactly! Any interest of value to the gov't is already found elsewhere ppl. I don't know where you are finding the places that you are asked those questions you allege are asked on facebook. I have not been asked those questions. *shrugs*

Do you have a driver's liscense? Have you used it? Have you used your SS card? Do you have checks? Credit Card/Debit Cards? Do you go out into public stores where your image is being recorded?

Trust me, they've gotcha already if they want you Facebook was founded by someone who wanted to make $$ folks, guaranteed.

Dodgy geezer indeed.here is the original post on this topic,started a couple of days ago by myself.check it out.www.abovetopsecret.com... have been nice if the guy would have put my link in there.Oh well.

That's right!

Let's think of what kind of information the government now has on you:

1) What you're doing at any given moment, including making that PB&J sandwich or watching Judge Judy.
2) What your current mood is. Sad (sigh), happy (yay!), angry (grr!).
3) How many times you've been bitten by a "vampire".
4) What your favorite music is.
5) What passes for your hobbies.
6) How desperate you are to have virtual friends who wouldn't recognize you walking down the street.
7) Photos of you on spring break

Yes, a conspiracy indeed. And here I thought the government was some gigantic, sloth-like entity that was too bulky to be efficient. Turns out they have the time and resources to process......

da-da-duuum

your every move!!


To be fair, the OP has a very good point (I just think the bad guy in this case isn't the government, but any ex boyfriend or coworker who wants to dig up dirt on you). Facebook is a spooky way of keeping dibs on you. The dibs may not be that substantial, but they're there all the same. Thank God I never bought into the social networking hype.

[edit on 27-9-2008 by thrashee]

As others have already said Facebook is merely a collection of the superficial details that generally don't matter much. Anybody who has ever been processed for a security clearance will tell you they do in fact know everything about you already, and have for a long long time. Government entities are not the ones you should be worried about having your personal information, be more concerned about spammers, marketing firms and identity theives.

Another reason to be concerned about what you put up on facebook, myspace or anywhere else publicly accessible on the internet is that more frequently employers are googling their prospective employees. Do you want Suzie in HR at that law firm you just applied to seeing you taking shots off of some half naked person on spring break? More and more people are failing to get jobs because they had stupid things up for the world to see.

The flip side of this is that being too secretive can also be a negative thing as well. Suppose you are the person performing an exhaustive security clearance process on a prospective employee (assume government job, Secret or TS/SCI clearance) and you find out that there is a glaring lack of information about the person being processed. Would you consider this a good thing or a bad thing? I for one being of the suspicious mindset would immediately think they are intentionally hiding something and thusly dig even deeper and look at every detail of their lives closer to see what exactly was being kept secret. So while having everything out there is definately a bonehead move going to great lengths to create this huge void of information can also be a hinderance depending on the career path you choose in life.

reply to post by dodgygeeza


My friends have gone on and on at me to get a profile on facebook and i've refused. However i didn't refuse out of some worry about the government, i refused bcause of the chances of ID theft!

People are stupid, if you actually go out and check facebook, find a juicy profile, then check public databases, you basically have everything you need to steal someones identity without leaving your comfy chair. In fact i think the BBC did some research and proved it.

Think i'll stick to avoiding social networking sites like the plague, text and phone calls are good enough to stay in contact with friends, or are people giving up on meeting face to face once in a whle for a drink?

I have a facebook account cause most people here in my country have one, it has become like an absurd requirment in my society. However I dont like putting a lot of information nor photos, you all should see this video:

albumoftheday.com...

Before retiring, I would constantly warn my students not to use myspace or facebook, since employers routinely check such sites, when they receive an application from student graduates. The problem is that the student will never know that they were not considered for a job, because something that waved a red flag was in such a site, placed there by the student.
I saw cases where students would post things like "enjoy doing drugs with my friends on a Saturday night", or "had a close call with the cops today, but got away".