Myspace in my space

[David Dunn]

I will be clear up front - I detest the insanity of the masses and their internet community sites, blog sites, twitter sites and facebook sites. I have a plethora or reasons from the social dynfunction of the whole thing to the advertisement revenue people are making off of them while sitting on the beach in the Bahamas. I'm not sure which tops my list - but anyway.

I have a brother who I have been estranged from for many years. I recently received an e-mail in my in-box that was an invitation to visit him on his myspace page. This of course required that I register. Here is where my issue, concern and question is.

As soon as I registered I was immediately informed off all of my personal and casual friends who had myspace pages. This was a real and accurate list of friends that I knew personally (that means in person) and casually (that means virtually aka: on-line).

Here is my question: where are they drawing this data from to find this information? Is it my Outlook address/contacts list. Is it my cookies? Those were the two that I could think of off of the top of my head based on who they matched me with.

Personally I don't like it at all and although I am happy to have my brother initiate contact with me - my phone works just as well or better. I am considering deleting my profile simply because I feel I am (have made myself) vulnerable and have had (willingly) my privacy violated.

Talk to me. What gives? I would like to at least have an explaination so I can understand what I have exposed myself to.

[ShakesAllDay]

There's no telling exactly who/what is known about us. It is kind of scary. But, that's the way the world is headed. I'm sure 75% of the things we sign up for (online or otherwise) have fine print about sharing at least some of the info we divulge. All of it goes into the great cloud and is mined and processed.

I don't think I use cash to pay for anything other than the random sno-cone at Tropical Sno. Whoever has access to my hundreds of thousands of transactions has a pretty good idea about what/where I buy, etc. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

[crader]

While I agree fully on disliking the sites running your e-mail address books, which is where they get the info. It does not seem to be a large issue after you are signed up.

With myspace they will have suggestions on your page of people you may know. At that point it is friends of the people you have added. If you keep your profile private I don't think they can do that with your profile. And if they can then the people still can't see your profile unless you add them.

They have their goods and bads.

[David Dunn]

There's no telling exactly who/what is known about us. It is kind of scary. But, that's the way the world is headed. I'm sure 75% of the things we sign up for (online or otherwise) have fine print about sharing at least some of the info we divulge. All of it goes into the great cloud and is mined and processed.

I don't think I use cash to pay for anything other than the random sno-cone at Tropical Sno. Whoever has access to my hundreds of thousands of transactions has a pretty good idea about what/where I buy, etc. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

No kidding!

I am always called a pesemist because I am a realist and a conspiracy nut because they conspire.

It's not them - it's me.

[fightbackhxc]

i am sure its from your list of contacts in your email that you used to register myspace.

[Mulletsoldier]

Essentially, this is what occurs:

Part of the "Terms and Conditions" of most network-based communication devices - web-client e-mail, social networking sites, forums and so on - and e-commerce hubs such as e-Bay and Amazon is "property sharing" - that is, the transfer of property - in this case, intellectual property (i.e., your data) - as part of a particular business arrangement. Prior to the advent of the internet, like-minded businesses would purchase mailing lists off one another to ensure the proper households received the proper ad-copies. This sharing carried out ad nauseum means that your information may be available for purchase, even if you have not personally afforded it: an individual in your greater network may include your name, etc., in their initial sign-up for 'Site X', and this information is therefore privy to a wide-range of advertisers. In fact, sites such as this one often participate in this very practice with Google; this is why the "random" advertisements generated on forums and other places often included subjects tied to your IP's search history. This is why whenever one signs up for networking sites, false information should always be given.

[David Dunn]

Relative to my IP search history, or in the case here, Google ad-sense, is one thing, but scanning my PC and running through my address book/contacts is an other.

Makes we want to unplug completely before IT happens. Yes, it IS going to happen. It's not an IF, it is simply a WHEN.

[Richard Gears]

On a related note, everytime i come to this forum, i get an alert stating that Acrobat is trying to open.

I deny it access, then my auto-protect results (symantec AV) quarantine a Trojan file named Jar_cache5671994....tmp

This happens everytime i'm here at AM.

Whats the deal with that?

[urbanski]

could it be less sinister?
did you input any demographic data? schools, hometown, etc? facebook grabbed all that info and spit out folks from my hometown and schools. but it didnt snoop independently.

[Jayhawkk]

there's an option to have your contact list scanned and it'll tel you who already has myspace.... Is there a chance that you accidentaly allowed them to scan your contacts? You can opt out of them doing that and still register.

[David Dunn]

I did nothing but register. It requested a current valid active e-mail and DOB and I provided it. It immediately displayed up to 10 people/profiles that I knew, many of which were obvioulsy gleened from my Outlook contact lists.

After that I immediately edited my profile, inputting nothing, other than selecting hide my e-mail.

[Jayhawkk]

Hmmm, don't think they could of hit your contacts without permission. Could of done it because other people let myspace scan their contact list and kept it on file so when you registered they already knew who you knew.

[David Dunn]

I beg to differ, but of course could be mistaken.

I have dsade's e-mail contact in my Outlook contact list. His was one that popped up. I have absolutely nothing that would associate me with him other than that and archived correspondences. There were others like that as well.

There is no reason to believe that any of them had my name or e-mail in their contacts or anywhere on myspace for them to know me in advance.

[suncloud]

i suspect your friend and you have similar friends, and myspace just grabbed a few of his friends and said "other people you may like are...."

beyond that, i don't think they could garner any other information about you. so i'd check your friends "friends", and see if they're the same as yours.

if not, boy, skynet isn't too far away....

[Mulletsoldier]

Relative to my IP search history, or in the case here, Google ad-sense, is one thing, but scanning my PC and running through my address book/contacts is an other.

Makes we want to unplug completely before IT happens. Yes, it IS going to happen. It's not an IF, it is simply a WHEN.

Well, either that or an individual you know imported their contact lists [...very common...] and you were included in it; ergo, their name came up in your, "relevant people" list.

[Y2Jversion1]

Not to sound like a tin-foil hat wearin' nut - but it has been public that those agencies who have power do frequent and use these social networking sites to scope out potential 'threats' and people they deem 'suspicious'. I personally am not on any of them due to the potential of breach of privacy.

There was a statement by "them" a couple years back when Facebook became the big thing over myspace...something to the lines of having such social networks and knowing who associates with who makes things a bit more easier and convenient for "them"

http://www.albumoftheday.com/facebook/

With the amount of BS going on with identity theft as well as some of the conspiracy theories flying around, sometimes even I feel like pulling a Jason Bourne and stop using credit cards for things and picking up a disposable pay-as-you-go phone.

The world sure is getting virtually smaller... who knows if it's a good thing or not-so-good thing.

[Dwight Schrute]

Well, either that or an individual you know imported their contact lists [...very common...] and you were included in it; ergo, their name came up in your, "relevant people" list.

This.


I used an address I've used for years when testing out the facebook sign in here on AM and was contacted by people just because it recognized that address in other peoples contacts. I had to explain to them its a test account and not me.

[Dwight Schrute]

On another note, with the Facebook login option here on AM, I could have it look at your "friends" here, match emails address's in Facebook then it would send you notifications to add them on Facebook as well. Now considering most people don't want their names and or accounts associated, I obviously chose not to enable that option....but that shows you how easy it is to do.

[Mulletsoldier]

This.


I used a address I've used for years when testing out the facebook sign in here on AM and was contacted by people just because it recognized that address in other peoples contacts. I had to explain to them its a test account and not me.

Yeah, exactly.

[Iron Lungz]

This was going to be my topic of choice. Do you know what industry is at the frontline with getting your posting history/searches/contacts without you giving it to them? The Porn Industry. I'm serious as death here. One of my old Team Members that was wounded in Combat now works for an Anti-Terrorism Cyber Team; our conversations are very fascinating to say the least. It's startling, as well as shocking what he can see with his software. I have a similar component on my PC, but nothing close to his.

On another note, with the Facebook login option here on AM, I could have it look at your "friends" here, match emails address's in Facebook then it would send you notifications to add them on Facebook as well. Now considering most people don't want their names and or accounts associated, I obviously chose not to enable that option....but that shows you how easy it is to do.