In today’s Quick Hits, we touch on the new Facebook feature “Places” and the privacy concerns that accompany it, an ex-model’s fight to stop cyberbullying, and the latest on Eden Aberjil, the Israeli soldier who posted photos of herself posing with Palestinian detainees on her Facebook page.
As expected, Facebook announced their newest feature “Places” on Wednesday. “Places” is a service that allows any user to share their location with friends, by “checking in” to local restaurants, stores, and other businesses. According to Pete Cashmore, the new service is virtually identical to the much-hyped location-based startups Foursquare and Gowalla.
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Privacy groups are already raising concerns over Facebook’s “Places”. One group in particular, the Center for Digital Democracy, plans to discuss the new feature with the FTC very soon. CDD’s executive director Jeffrey Chester says, “In typical Facebook-speak, they are not telling users how their location data will be used by marketers and advertisers.”
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Columbia Business School grad Carla Franklin is in court trying to get Google to identify the people who uploaded some videos of her, and called her a whore on YouTube. Carla Franklin, who graduated with an MBA in 2009, claims these comments have hurt her job prospects. According to her lawyer, Franklin hopes that her lawsuit will put an end to cyberbullying, so others won’t have to suffer as she has.
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A Facebook page has been launched in support of Eden Aberjil, the Israeli soldier who posted pictures of herself posing with Palestinian prisoners. Contributors are posting messages of support, along with their own photos with Palestinian detainees. Organization “Breaking the Silence” has been uploading similar pictures as well. Since the Israeli military is not pleased with all of these photos coming out, posters have been posted at army bases reading “Not everyone is your friend on Facebook.”
1 comment so far ↓
I’m not choosing to enable FB places. There are too many of my 700+ “Friends” that I don’t know well enough to share where I’m at. However, I’m a FourSquare fan and limit who I choose for my network to follow me. Foursquare does create another data point for my digital footprint. Are my FourSquare checkins searchable on the web for people that are NOT part of my network?
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