Question about Facebook

[backrubman 64800]

Ok so I'm quite knowledgeable about computers and the Internet but, social networking, not so much so I'm hoping someone can help me with this one.

 

So it seems every time I exchange emails (I use Gmail or more precisely Google Apps with a hosted domain) with an SP sooner or later she shows up as a "suggested friend" on Facebook. So somehow facebook is able to access my contacts in Gmail? I never gave it credentials or permission to do this so how the heck is it getting into my contacts list on gmail? Yes, I use the same email address with facebook but the password on facebook is very different. I could understand if this was Google+ doing this, yeah Google hosts my contact list so there is nothing we can do to stop the leakage there :) But I don't get it, how Farcebook is getting access to my Google contacts?

 

So one SP did send me a friends request and that was fine as my privacy settings are set that my friends list is private to everyone -- until she indiscreetly posted on my wall and then rather than bother messing around with privacy settings I just blocked her completely. But SPs have started to show up as suggested friends and it's getting annoying. So another SP just showed up as a suggested friend, blocked her completely too but I still don't get how Farcebook is able to know about my contacts list on Google? Heck the Google account password uses Google Autenticator so the password is only good for one minute anyways. How is Mark Zuckerberg (now known as Suckerberg after that IPO) getting is paws on my Google Contacts?

 

I should mention that I don't have a big problem with SPs on my Facebook but I know it creeps some of them out when they get a friends request on Facebook from a client (which I would never do unless suggested by them) and I would imagine a little less so but still somewhat creepy when I become a suggested friend to them.

 

Any insight appreciated. Inquiring minds want to know.

[Guest]

Facebook does updates on the site alone , and simply because u have the same email hooked up to the account , regardless if you choose it to or not , it can automatically retrieve your contact list.

 

The only thing I suggest is make another email specifically for facebook , and go into your settings and change your previous email to the new one , and this could prevent the problem you are having with SP's popping up in your suggested friends hun!

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

I don't really know anything about it, but maybe the links could be being made through the SP's email contact lists, rather than through your contact list. The link to your email could begin from their end.

[ptgmbguy 120]

Facebook and google share info without your consent. Type any search into google and the cookie on your computer will be accesed by other programs to intice you with other products associated to your previous search. that is how the side ads poping up in search engines with other searches in your history..That is what I've found out and that is why I delete all cookies/temp files

[piano8950 32577]

Several possibilities. The most likely that when you originally signed up for your account, you may have given access to your Gmail account to find contacts.

 

However, Facebook employs some very sneaky (although evil scientist like brilliant) methods to find contacts. I created a Facebook account to test my privacy settings on my original account (Just wanted to see what people could see if they weren't friends). While I used a totally random name, added no friends to that account, and apart from using it a couple of times, never logged in, my original facebook account started recommending me to add the test account.

 

Personally, with this entire thing, I use a different browser, a different email address, tied with one very different username then I use with anything else. If anyone searches for my username, all they might find is a profile on another forum like cerb. That is the only action I can recommend to keep this life and everything else seperate.

[Lexy Grace 103697]

I should mention that I don't have a big problem with SPs on my Facebook but I know it creeps some of them out when they get a friends request on Facebook from a client (which I would never do unless suggested by them) and I would imagine a little less so but still somewhat creepy when I become a suggested friend to them.

 

Any insight appreciated. Inquiring minds want to know.

 

I have two clients on my personal Facebook both have moved away but visit every so often, I have a companion Facebook but no pictures or anything just full name and email and if a gent wants to add me I have no problem but I don't use it as an advertising tool. I did see people from my personal Facebook in the you may know this person and that was a little creepy and weird, how do they know. I was on a different laptop, I usually have my Mac (Business) and Sony (Personal) on the go at the same time. I need a clone!!

[just2enjoy 1621]

It's not just emails, matches can also be made from your cell phone contact list. Facebook requests/requires a mobile phone number to create an account. If that number is on your phone when you use your cell to connect, it will locate the matching Facebook account assuming you want to add each other.

 

Check your mobile security settings, you might be surprised to discover you have added the phone numbers of family, friends, etc to Facebook!

[Lexy Grace 103697]

It's not just emails, matches can also be made from your cell phone contact list. Facebook requests/requires a mobile phone number to create an account. If that number is on your phone when you use your cell to connect, it will locate the matching Facebook account assuming you want to add each other.

 

Check your mobile security settings, you might be surprised to discover you have added the phone numbers of family, friends, etc to Facebook!

 

Glad I signed up for both accounts prior to having to supply a mobile number. They are surely not getting that, they are pushing the privacy boundaries but we must read that fine print.

[Guest **zz**x]

I have had a number of SPs showing up in my suggested friends list (with their real names attached) because I stupidly allowed FB to access both of my email accounts. Now I have my private settings set very high so the risks of something unfortunate happening are low but, be warned, FB is a privacy nightmare for hobbyists and SPs alike....

[kerrixoxo 33719]

To follow up to this message, I use twitter and FB (non-SP) one a lot... like A LOT (I have a blog and write about a lot of Canadian issues from my perspective--not an SP but a student).

 

I do not post my cell number on any FB (even my gmail to activate it or authenticate something). I also have a "junk email" where I attach my non SP twitter and non-SP facebook too. I avoid people who try to search my SP email (which happens because I can check on google analytics--if you have a site or a blog this is good to have even if you are an SP or non SP--can gauge where your visitors are coming from and what they are using to search your SP email and can attach tags to your posts/site to be the "first" match in their google/internet search).

 

This junk email is also useful because I don't get constant updates from people who send me requests or who tweet @ me. It is also useful to avoid people who try to search my non-SP pages :)

 

Hope this helps and if you (or anyone) needs any help, just send me a message :) and I can try to best help to my abilities!

 

Kerri

[oscarthegrouch 400]

It's not just Facebook (ahem...data mining company). Google is at much, if not more at fault (another data mining company). With their new "privacy policy", they give information all over the place. That's why I avoid g-mail and Google+ like the plague and use either my own servers for work e-mails, or just hotmail for personal use. I know the naysayers say that microsoft sucks, but as a software company, they do not need to peddle your personal information around to make money...for Google, it's a requirement. If you're observant, you'll notice things that you talk about in your e-mails will sometimes appear ever so coincidentally in the side bar advertizing of websites you go to, even though your e-mails are private....aren't they? Twitter is another bad apple for privacy, and they sold off about 250 billion tweets and profiles the other month to a data aggregator. Not the end of the world, but treat everything you put onto a social media site as public fodder, even if your security settings are maxed out as there is usually a work around.

[kerrixoxo 33719]

You have to select to void google+ services (and just opt for gmail which may include documents/calendar/etc).

[Phaedrus 209521]

Glad you got to the bottom of it, BackRubMan. And thanks for sharing what happened... I'm sure this has happened to a lot of other people too, who may not even have noticed.

 

I must admit, in general I'm very wary of giving companies like Google and Facebook access to too much information. As an example, my real-life self is on FB, but there's not a hope in hell of Phaedrus ever getting one. And I've studiously avoided allowing my real-life email to go anywhere near Google; I'm sure they know far too much about me as it is without reading my email.

 

And smartphone apps really do seem to be a fantastic liability...

[backrubman 64800]

... If you're observant, you'll notice things that you talk about in your e-mails will sometimes appear ever so coincidentally in the side bar advertizing of websites you go to, even though your e-mails are private....aren't they?

Yes, I have heard of that, but never seen it. I pay Google to host my company email so the only graphic I see using Gmail is my own company logo at the top of the screen - no ads ever. But of course in this case when you use the free Gmail it's only the machines from SkyNet reading your email and displaying targeted advertising, when they become self aware I'll really start to worry :) But by then it will be too late.

 

Twitter is another bad apple for privacy, and they sold off about 250 billion tweets and profiles the other month to a data aggregator. Not the end of the world, but treat everything you put onto a social media site as public fodder, even if your security settings are maxed out as there is usually a work around.

Oh yeah and Twitter and the quantitative trading companies using all the tweets to predict the stock market (and quite successfully I might add) are both making lots of money here.

 

And smartphone apps really do seem to be a fantastic liability...

I irony here my friend (and I never miss the irony) is that I'm suppose to be smarter than the average bear about these things but if I didn't have such special and trusting relationships with my "professional" SP friends, I wouldn't "know" their real life, real world names and might not have noticed what was happening until it was way too late.

[Meaghan McLeod 179664]

I found this online. I don`t completely understand it yet, but wanted to post here for others to see.

 

http://redlightlegal.org/sex-workers-clients-are-seeing-you-on-facebook-heres-how-to-stop-it/