I’m not a heavy user of Facebook. I am mostly a voyeur who rarely posts anything and I have yet to play any games like Farmville or to use any Facebook applications. My interest is mostly in keeping up with what friends and family are up to, and even that is barely enough to keep me interested.

That being said, while listening to my favorite tech podcast the other day, the smartest tech guy in the world, Leo Laporte, said he has suspended his account on Facebook because he can’t understand where and with whom his information is being shared. He also talked about not understanding the privacy settings and other features within Facebook. Frankly, that was enough to make me sit up and take notice simply because if Leo doesn’t understand it, no one does. To make matters worse, it seems plausible that Facebook intends for it to be this way. 

I am not a paranoid kind of person but Facebook is starting to scare me with its utter disregard for privacy. I am aware that we all give up considerable privacy when we are on the internet, but with Facebook it feels like a whole different ballgame. I spent some time tonight looking more closely at all the privacy setting and I must admit, I didn’t really understand them to the point of feeling completely comfortable. I assume Facebook is taking whatever information it can from me and using it for something. Because of my voyeuristic habits, I likely don’t have much information worth selling, but my concerns about Facebook’s lack of transparency make me reluctant to become anything more than a voyeur.

I believe I know enough to make an informed decision about my own privacy, so I think for now I will remain a voyeur on Facebook until I learn more about what they are doing with  my information. It’s very troubling for me personally when companies are not transparent as it makes me question their motives. I’m sure many companies are simply ignorant or indifferent. The ones that are actually hiding something are likely to be a small majority, but they are the ones that worry me the most.