> We can see the value in the free-to-us service provided by Facebook, > but the cost is hidden. It's hidden well enough that I, an > inveterate Facebooker, don't know what it is. Will I be sorry > someday? What is going to happen to me? I see the advertisements > and I guess that's part of the price I'm paying, but that doesn't > bother me. Should it? It's like that with Google, too. > > I'm not poo-pooing the privacy issue. I really don't see what can go > wrong for me, so I'm asking. The Facebook service collects thousands of pages of information about each of her users. This blog post explains 22 privacy concerns from the perspective of Irish law: www.identityblog.com/?p=1201 The main concerns, as I see the situation, is that Facebook tracks every website you go to that has Facebook like/dislike buttons on it, even if you don't click the buttons, using web cookies iirc. Also, all site changes (privacy settings) opt-in users, so their account's privacy settings change even if they haven't logged in due to being out of town or similar. And that they never delete information even after you ask them to, they only hide it from you. Like said in the video, "No KGB or CIA ever had 1200 pages about an average citizen." (They do now.) As far as I can tell, Facebook doesn't provide a service that can't be recreated relatively easily by someone with web programming skills. Public and private messaging, image uploads, groups, event rsvp... most of the other "features" (face recognition, facebook apps/games) look like bloat to me and may even be considered detrimental to usability and user/site efficiency/performance. I had used Facebook in 2005-2009 but deleted the account because the site no longer reflected the service and terms I signed up for and agreed to. They probably have at least half a thousand pages on me. I'm curious to know why they are keeping it and what is going to happen with it in a year, five years, twenty years...