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Facebook: Despite Concerns, The Buzz Goes On

Despite privacy concerns and complaints about sexual predators (about which Facebook has decided not to do anything and is now being investigated), the Facebook buzz machine is going strong, valuating the company at $10 billion.

The first report comes from Lisa Barone, who points out that your private data on Facebook isn't so private after all. In fact, even after she took all the security precautions (i.e. used limited profile) and opted out of search indexing, random bits of her information were still made available to the public.

This is further exacerbated by the New York Attorney General's announcement that his office will be investigating into Facebook over the safety measures on the site. His office argues that there are 'several significant defects' in the company's safety controls, to which Facebook is not responding adequately.

My office is concerned that Facebook's promise of a safe website is not consistent with its performance in policing its site and responding to complaints," Cuomo said. "Parents have a right to know what their children will encounter on a website that is aggressively marketed as safe.

While the thought of our private information being made available to sexual predators should make all of us shudder and think twice before signing up for Facebook and what information we put on the site, Microsoft seems to be more hopeful. In spite of the concerns, there are reports that there are discussions underway for Microsoft to buy a minority stake (5%) in Facebook in the range of $300 million to $500 million. These talks, if successful could bring Facebook's valuation up to $10 billion.

Reader Comments (2)

Preg.mo Sig Thomas Michael Kunishima-Santulli, September 26, 2007

Appears an overstatement about the real holdings Facebook has been entrusted with. For the moment we are observing comments. The tone indicates that we don't hold out much hope. We welcome Muhammad Saleem's viewpoint. Accept our appreciation and ext/

Sia, September 27, 2007

Indeed a scary thought. As a general rule, I never leave anything too personal of a nature when surfing. Certainly not with a site such as Facebook. Facebook is a recreational site for me and no more. As far as the sexual predators go, well I can tell you when the time comes for the young ones in my family to discover such social communities it won't be in the privacy of their rooms. It will be in the kitchen and close to (where I usually am...)the refrigerator, where we can see to the safety of our children.