Facebook reveals users' personal messages on public timeline

reply to post by InS0MnI


If you go into the message, you can delete the entire conversation from the Actions button.

This isn't affecting all users, and many people have confirmed this and are not lying. If you value your privacy in messages on FB, you should take this seriously. Still waiting for my personal friends to confirm what look to be many private messages shared on their timelines. Seems like about half the profiles I check look that way.

And that article you keep posting says the SITE says it's false. If you read the OTHER articles, users are confirming this, IT IS NOT A HOAX. Facebook is always lying about it's privacy anyway.

reply to post by azamber


No, it's not a hoax, it's people not understanding what they are looking at.

What it is showing is things people have posted to your wall, people are thinking some of these were private messages, probably because they were so long ago.

The fact is though, they aren't private messages, so nobody needs to delete anything out of paranoia.

ok, so you understand, here is what is going on.....

This is my timeline, as viewed from my main account......

As I don't allow people to see what other people have posted on my wall, this is what it looks like from my alt account, and everybody elses......

Those aren't private messages, they were posted to my wall, where, if I didn't have the setting as they are, would be visible to all my friends.

That is what people are getting worried about, lets face it, they could be seen as private messages, but they weren't.

:lol
this is all i can say
:
to all you FB users that post EVERYTHING you do in a day
enjoy the spread of your "personal" information

reply to post by woogleuk


Thank you for taking the time to explain, but maybe that is the case for you. In several articles I read, users were CERTAIN that SOME of these messages were private, and in other reports, they are also recent. Also, given that they were "flooded with complaints", don't you think this lends some credibility to the fact that the users had checked it out for themselves? It is typical of Facebook to deny these claims when users find "glitches", and I have seen at least one myself.

Prior to launching the ticker, they selected a test group without their knowledge. The ORIGINAL ticker was an incredible violation of privacy, because I had it, and could see everything my friends were doing regardless of settings. They changed the rules when they rolled it out to everyone else, also in phases. NOW, several of my friends can now see what your friend's friends are doing in your own ticker. I have not seen this but had three different people in my list verify it. Facebook is notorious for extreme breaches of privacy that happen to some groups of people, but not others. I complained every day it was there, but they asserted the ticker shared no information that wasn't already visible. I saw every day, this was not, in fact, the case.

reply to post by azamber


Normally I would agree, but I have seen these reports also, and it is nothing more than what I said. Some of the messages can look personal, especially when grouped together like that with no comments.

You are right about the ticker though, it's bloody annoying when it pops up telling you that such and such posted on the wall of person you have never even heard of.

It does annoy me that Facebook makes these changes without notifying people, the whole timeline thing was a nightmare (although there is a funky Firefox plugin which reverts it back to the old style, for your eyes only though).

Those people who whine about Facebook though (I don't mean you azamber), don't like it, don't use it, don't use it, stop whinging at those who do. I have got in touch with countless friends I haven't seen for years via Facebook, and while it does get a bit annoying seeing some peoples every life crisis, it still has some pretty neat benefits.

reply to post by CoherentlyConfused


You my friend have hit the nail directly on the head.. Seriously.. If you're ignorant enough to have a steamy sexting session with someone from half the world away.. Then you deserve for your junk to go viral.. I don't give a damn if my msgs appear on facebook.. I've never said anything I shouldn't have..

As for mark zukkerberg.. Boo hoo hoo.. They've tried to take him down before.. Fortunately he can play the rich kid game.. Coz he's already richer than everyone on ats put together.. LOL.

Nice post though.. Tnx for the heads up, with you wouldn't wish ill on another person though.. But, what goes around comes around.. So just watch your back

Peace

Originally posted by woogleuk
Those people who whine about Facebook though (I don't mean you azamber), don't like it, don't use it, don't use it, stop whinging at those who do. I have got in touch with countless friends I haven't seen for years via Facebook, and while it does get a bit annoying seeing some peoples every life crisis, it still has some pretty neat benefits.

Exunctly...

I'm not one of these that has to update my status if I've done a particularly smelly fart, but its been useful for keeping in touch with old mates and my family which are quite spread out. Like you say, if you don't like it, don't use it. I don't really understand the hate.

Originally posted by azamber
If you value your privacy in messages on FB

Oh the irony...

reply to post by Lil Drummerboy

:lol
this is all i can say
:
to all you FB users that post EVERYTHING you do in a day
enjoy the spread of your "personal" information

And you really think 'they' don't have all of your info anyway? LOL @ that.

By the way? Guess what hun - that's exactly what TPTB WANT you to do - blame FB. They WANT you to be paranoid. Why? Because it leads you into a false sense of security.

If you think for one minute all those emails you've ever sent are not recorded somewhere, every post you've ever made here online are not recorded somewhere, every conversation and message you've ever sent on Skype is not recorded? You've fallen right into their trap.

So. go hide under your rock all you want. Thing is? Just for once? JUST FOR ONCE? THINK OF THE GOOD FB CAN DO!

It brings people together, it (can) give joy, promote love and care and prayer and acceptance and understanding and more.

It can unite people.

Yeah, that's right. And believe me? That right there scares the living crap out of TPTB more than you can know.

peace

Originally posted by azamber

I physically got ill after reading this...

Did you really?????

reply to post by silo13


Indeed, anyone who thinks privacy has ever existed anywhere on the internet is...misinformed. By singling out FB, the narrative shapes the idea that any other form of internet communication is somehow protected and private, which is and always has been a dangerous assumption. The internet, from the earliest days, has been a house made of glass in which some people wear dark sunglasses and declare that if they can't see then surely they can't be seen.

People can post messages to your wall, like to say happy birthday when they notice the little area on the top right that says its your birthday.

People can also send you a private direct message.

In no way were the PRIVATE direct messages available to the public. This is simply a knee jerk reaction to a slight restructuring of the formatting of the way the wall displays messages others have posted to your wall. Instead of a single box for each time someone posted something, they changed it so they are all grouped together.

There was no "bug", there was no privacy breach. If you don't know how facebook works, and you are so paranoid that you deleted your facebook account due to a rumor, please don't come back.

It is folks that don't understand technology that ruin it for those of us that do.

DC

This is no lie,mine and a few of my friends private messages were definitely displayed along with all my actual public messages. Most people are fine but i suggest you actually check your own Facebook pages.

I repeat, this actually happened to some people including me.

Thank you, and I have also had a friend definitively confirm PRIVATE messages posted to her wall. Some people seem to think that if they don't experience it, it must be false. In more ways than one, unfortunately.

Originally posted by azamber
Thank you, and I have also had a friend definitively confirm PRIVATE messages posted to her wall. Some people seem to think that if they don't experience it, it must be false. In more ways than one, unfortunately.

I can confirm that 4 of my friends had my private messages with them (NOT wall posts) suddenly posted to their walls (the messages for 2 of those 4 were from 2006 and before).

Just because it didn't happen to every account doesn't mean it didn't happen...

Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg are just the fall guys. Theyre scapegoats for us to blame.
I agree that this seems like a set up in a way.

I wouldnt be surprised if this leads to more talk of censoring the internet.

I opened a FB account to just be able to read some things. My kids found me and I have 8 pages of friends. I freaked out and haven't been back. lol I am going back to being a Luddite.