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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made waves last month when he sought to justify Facebook’s widely panned privacy overhaul as a necessary change that reflected the times in which we live. In a talk with TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington, Zuckerberg said that the “social norm” regarding privacy had “evolved over time” and that Facebook was merely evolving with it. Naturally, many Internet analysts called Zuckerberg out for masking what was clearly a business decision as something that made the service better for customers.

Of course, as with all good PR spin, there was an element of truth to Zuckerberg’s statement. While we may not have completely abandoned our desire for privacy (I believe that what we desire more than anything then and now is control over our information), we certainly have opened up about what we’re willing to share. Can you imagine what people might have said 20 years ago if you described a service like Twitter? How about 30 years ago? Or 100 years ago? In considering how our perspectives on privacy have changed, I thought it would be a fun exercise to turn to some of the great minds of previous generations and see what they had to say on the subject of privacy.

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First let us examine the thoughts of two former Presidents of the United States.

“When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.”

- Thomas Jefferson

“Every man should know that his conversations, his correspondence, and his personal life are private.”

- Lyndon B. Johnson

Here we have an interesting juxtaposition. Thomas Jefferson believed, as do most of us, that when you set out to become a public servant you knowingly cede some of your right to privacy. In other words, it is the belief that in order to effectively lead people, you must open yourself up to their scrutiny. To a certain extent, we use this same line of thought for celebrities. If they are going to make millions of dollars because of our money than we have a right to have access to them whenever we want.

Conversely, Lyndon B. Johnson believed that “every man” should be confident in knowing that his private information was secure. It should be noted of course that Johnson issued this statement when he was swearing in Ramsey Clark as Attorney General in 1967. As such, the statement is referring to a man’s right to privacy as inferred by the Constitution.

Considering that we haven’t quite figured out the legality of how companies use our information in modern times (data mining, behavioral advertising, etc) it is interesting to consider how LBJ might have phrased his words differently. Perhaps, “Every man should know that he has control over keeping his conversations, his correspondence, and his personal life private.”

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Moving on from Presidents, let’s take a look at what Earl Warren, former three-time governor of California and the 14th Chief Justice of the United States, had to say about privacy and technology.

“The fantastic advances in the field of communication constitute a grave danger to the privacy of the individual.”

-Earl Warren

Chief Justice Warren left these remarks as part of a concurring opinion in the 1963 Supreme Court case of Lopez v. United States (373 U.S. 427). That case involved the legality of a federal agent surreptitiously recording a conversation with a criminal suspect and then using the recording as evidence in trial. In siding with the United States, Warren argued that the growing power of communications technology could be a threat to individual privacy and that it should be used by law enforcement agents with the utmost caution, but that it should it not be deemed automatically unconstitutional.

Given that Warren’s remarks involved criminal investigations, and he was actually saying it’s legal for law enforcement to record conversations under the right circumstances, one might think that they have no bearing on general matters of Internet privacy today. I disagree, however. Chief Justice Warren went out of his way to say that advances in communications were a legitimate threat to personal privacy. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to believe that if he had lived long enough to see Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter he would have been even more adamant about the importance of restraint in monitoring private communication.

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What do you think of these historical insights on privacy? Can you think of any more interesting historical perspectives on privacy? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Facebook Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Privacy Changes

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Facebook over the website’s most recent privacy changes. Those changes, which came about in November and December, were touted by Facebook as a way for users to keep their profiles more secure, but were actually aimed at opening up Facebook to more public sharing. Facebook is arguing that they did more than enough to explain how the privacy settings were changing and even offered users a transition tool to assist in the changeover.

This is not the first privacy-related class action lawsuit Facebook has faced. In September 2009, Facebook settled a lawsuit over its terrible Beacon program.

Beta Addition to Microsoft Outlook Provides Social Media Integration

In an effort to be more connected to the social media world, Microsoft is allowing Outlook users to access information from their social networking profiles. With the release of a “beta” test version of the Outlook Social Connector, Outlook users will be able to see information from such websites as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn. I wonder if access to social networks directly from Outlook will help or hurt productivity?

EPIC Files Complaint with FTC Over Google Buzz

Arguing that Google Buzz should be a fully opt-in service, the Electronic Privacy and Information Center (EPIC) has filed a complaint with the FTC against Google. In addition to the EPIC complaint, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has also expressed concern over Buzz. Considering that Buzz has only be active for eight total days, that can’t be a good sign for Google.

Some Microsoft Live Customers Have Private Information Exposed

Nobody knows why or how yet, but according to CNET some Microsoft Live customers were able to access other users’ information. Apparently, the breach occurred only when users were accessing their accounts from mobile devices. Microsoft is investigating the incidences now and will have some more information soon.

Video Chat Service Chatroulette is Definitely Not for Kids

Chatroulette is a new video chat web service that allows instantaneous anonymous video chatting with total strangers from around the world. By logging on, you are randomly connected to a stranger. They can see you and you can see them. If what you see doesn’t look interesting, you can quickly move on to someone new by clicking the next button.

Of course, as Larry Magid at CNET found out, not having control over who you might be chatting with next can lead to some pretty disturbing images. Obviously, this makes the site a big safety concern for parents.

By now, the odds are good that you’ve heard about film director Kevin Smith’s recent clash with Southwest Airlines. If you haven’t yet heard the story, or you’re a bit fuzzy on the details, here are the essential details.

Kevin Smith, who is famous for directing Clerks, among numerous other popular comedy films, purchased two tickets for a short Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Burbank. When offered the opportunity to board an earlier stand-by flight, Smith took the option. Once on board, Smith seated himself and waited for the flight. At this point, according to Smith, it was determined by a Southwest employee that he required two seats to sit comfortably under Southwest’s “Customer of Size” policy and that he would have to be removed from the plane.

Being understandably embarrassed about the situation, Smith demonstrated that he could buckle the seat belt and put down the arm rests (two key requirements of the policy), but he was told to exit the plane anyway. At this point, Smith turned to his more than 1.6 million Twitter followers. In response to his status updates, many of his followers began lashing out against Southwest, prompting a Southwest employee to tweet an apology from the official Southwest Twitter account, along with an official apology at the Southwest Airlines corporate blog.

While you would think that might be the end of it, Smith still has a bone to pick with Southwest. The reason? As he clearly indicated by passing their test, he isn’t in fact “too fat to fly.” Despite this fact, however, while Southwest has agreed to review their “Customer of Size” policy to make sure that it’s appropriate, nobody has gone on record as saying that Smith was not in violation of the policy, which is all that he wants. Unfortunately, because of all the drama that this incident raised, the moniker of “too fat to fly” will now be a stain on his reputation for the rest of his life.

Kevin Smith on Southwest Airlines

As much as I like Kevin Smith as a director, and as a person in general, I can’t help but wonder if he isn’t responsible for all of this media attention. Now before you get mad at me, I want you to know I’m not blaming the victim. From my understanding of the incident, Smith was not necessarily treated fairly and I’m glad that Southwest is reviewing their policies to make sure nobody else must be embarrassed unnecessarily. However, if Kevin Smith hadn’t taken to Twitter with his complaint, it’s likely that the story wouldn’t have made national news (even the New York Times got involved) and he would still be known as one of the world’s most beloved indie-film directors and not the “too fat to fly” guy.

While social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, and Yelp have made it easier than ever to voice your displeasure over bad service, that doesn’t mean that you should automatically jump onto the web to plead your case. As Kevin Smith found out, when you complain about something, not everyone will be on your side. In this case, the sheer volume of angry, obscenity-laced comments against overweight people that the Smith/Southwest story has brought up is enough to show that perhaps it would have been better for him to suffer in silence, and then work with Southwest behind closed doors on resolving the issue.

If Smith had waited to try and sort out the issue privately, he may have been able to reach a more satisfying conclusion that wouldn’t have led to major media exposure. If Southwest wanted to play hardball, he still would have had the option of sharing his negative experience with the world, but he could have done it in a full-length blog post (like he eventually did here and here) where he might have been able to control the story better. Consider how much more impact Smith’s complaint would have had if he weren’t forced to try and explain the story in 140 character outbursts.

Social media has made it easy to give in to our impulses, particularly when it comes to complaining about something. As such, it is very important for companies to engage in proactive social media monitoring and maintain a full support staff for responding to customer concerns online. However, as consumers, we must also understand that Twitter and other social media sites are not always the proper forum to bring up a customer service issue.

Give the company a chance to respond to your concerns through traditional means of communication before pulling out the big guns. If you play your cards right, the company may offer a more satisfactory resolution to your concern than they would if they were forced to play defense online. Besides, even if a web rant does bring you swifter justice, consider the long-term effects in could have on your reputation. Do you really want the first results about you on Google to be a Twitter tirade?

What do you think? Is social media the first place you turn when you have a customer service problem, or do you use the good old-fashioned 800 number?

Suspended Florida Teen Allowed to Proceed With Lawsuit Against High School

After a Florida teen was suspended for making a critical Facebook page about her teacher, she sued her high school’s principal arguing that her right to free speech was violated. Now, a federal judge has ruled that the teen, who is now a sophomore in college, can proceed with her lawsuit against her former school.

According to this article in the New York Times, the ACLU, who helped represent the teen, is claiming this decision as a victory for free speech online. Quoting from the article, “One of the lawyers, Maria Kayanan, associate legal director of the American Civl Liberties Union of Florida, said the judge’s decision had clearly extended the protection of First Amendment rights to online writings of a nonthreatening manner.”

Can Facebook Compete with Google on Search?

As Facebook continues to cement itself as the central hub around which web surfers use the Internet, many in the industry are wondering if the world’s largest social network can become a competitor to Google’s dominance in search. The short answer is no, but the long answer is maybe. In a post for Search Engine Land, Greg Sterling dissects some recent data that suggests Facebook is catching up to Google.

North Carolina Teacher Suspended Over Negative Facebook Comments About Students

A North Carolina teacher, Melissa Hussein, has been suspended for leaving negative comments about her students on her Facebook page. To add an additional layer of context, the comments, which said the students were “bigoted and stupid,” seem to involve religion as they came in response to students’ leaving bibles on the teacher’s desk. Something tells me this story could blow up in a big way. We’ll keep our eyes on it.

Spammers Already Running Free on Google Buzz

According to web security company Websense, it only took two days for spammers to start abusing Google Buzz. Because they have so much personal information, social networking websites are prime candidates for attacks from spammers and cybercriminals. In order to use social networking websites effectively, you have to know the signs of a spammer and always be careful about what information you share publicly.

Happy Presidents Day! We’re talking Google Buzz and cyberbullying in today’s Reputation Management, Internet Privacy, and Social Media Quick Hits.

Google Admits Privacy Mistakes on Google Buzz

According to the New York Times, Google is still backtracking over privacy problems with Google Buzz. In a statement at the Official Google Blog [http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-buzz-start-up-experience-based-on.html], Google Buzz Product Manager, Todd Jackson said Google is changing Buzz’s much-reviled auto-follow function to an “auto-suggest” funtion. This will be effective immediately for new buzz users and, in the next few weeks, will be introduced to current users as a way to start over.

The question now is, when these users are given the chance to start over, how many of them will embrace the service whole-heartedly?

Creepy Contextual Advertising in Gmail

Can contextual Gmail ads be too intimate? At his Technically Incorrect blog for CNET, Chris Matyszczyk talks about some of the more unusual recommended ads Google provides to Gmail users and tests out an experiment to see just how useful Gmail ads can be.

Google Wants to Have it Both Ways on China

Could Google’s heroic march out of the Chinese market have been nothing more than a show? As reported in the New York Times, Google co-founder Sergey Brin told an audience at last week’s TED Conference that he wants “to find a way to work within the Chinese system to bring information to the people. Perhaps we won’t succeed immediately, but maybe in a year or two.” Wasn’t that Google’s philosophy before they threatened to leave China too?

It seems like Google wants to be viewed as hero for threatening to leave China but also for deciding to stay. Could Google’s wishy-washy stance on China hurt the company in the public eye?

Charging Cyberbullies with Identity Theft?

Since few states have specific cyberbullying legislation on the books, law enforcement officials are getting creative about how they interpret existing laws to punish cyberbullies. For example, three teenage boys in Newburyport, Massachusetts have been charged with identity theft after setting up a fake Facebook profile in another student’s name and using it for cyberbullying. Is that a stretch? Maybe, but a columnist for the Boston Globe thinks that it’s the right move to show that cyberbullying is a serious problem and that cyberbullies should face serious consequences.