New York Times Facebook Content Deal Is A Threat To Personal Privacy

The New York Times is one of the world's most respected news organizations and one of the most popular destinations for news on the Internet.  However, I was dismayed to read in The New York Times that it may strike a deal to house some of its content inside Facebook.

This is a very troubling development for not just the media landscape but also for the freedom of thought and expression.  The ramifications of this potential deal will erode the privacy of The New York Times' readers and it will enable data brokers and their clients to create richer profiles of those who read the paper via Facebook due to Facebook's troubling deal with multiple data brokers.

When a New York Times reader utilizes Facebook to access articles, this information will be sent to Facebook's data broker partners who will insert this content into a user's digital dossier.  This data may be utilized by banks, insurance companies, employers, etc... to discriminate against people for reading about certain topics.  For example, when someone reads a lot of articles about their race, sexual orientation, health issue, religion, etc.. this data will be tracked and a data broker may provide it to one of their clients who may utilize it to decide on whether a reader is a good fit for a job. 

While ad networks and other digital tracking platforms already combine every digital morsel about users they can find, being able to track users from their personal Facebook account creates a new level of data purity that from a privacy standpoint is very troubling.  I don't want data brokers to be able to track everything that I read on The New York Times and combine that information with other personal characteristics about myself.

Due to Facebook's troubling privacy policy and practices, I do not utilize it for personal communications and I have no plans on doing so in the future.  I urge The New York Times and others who may be thinking about hosting their content on Facebook to think about these important privacy issues before finalizing any deal that may harm their users' in unanticipated ways.

Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.

10 Social Media Privacy New Year's Resolutions

I have listed below 10 New Year's resolutions for those who want to better protect their personal privacy in the Social Media Age:

1)    Limit social sharing.  Privacy is cool and hip and sharing too much is not.
2)    Don't take nude selfies.
3)    Send fewer emails and make more phone calls and have more face to face meetings.
4)    Use disappearing apps cautiously.
5)    Keep your smartphone location off unless using it for directions.
6)    Don't trust apps or online services that have bad privacy policies/practices.
7)    Don't trust Facebook with your personal information because its agreements with data brokers destroy your privacy.
8)   Don't trust Google's Gmail, Apps, etc... because its privacy policy allows for unfettered data mining and user profile creation that destroy your privacy. 
9)    Limit Twitter and other public social media conversations.
10)  Advocate for stronger digital privacy laws.  Lawmakers and regulators need to hear your voice!  

These 10 recommendations are the tip of the ice berg.  Data brokers, employers, schools, insurance companies, financial firms, law enforcement, etc... are watching your social media profile so limit your digital footprint.  In the Social Media Age, this famous proverb should still be followed:  "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2015 and beyond!

Copyright 2014 by Shear Law, LLC All rights reserved.