Surprise! There is no such thing as Privacy on the Internet.

This weeks brouhaha over facebook's latest lack of privacy reminds one of something a very proper grandmother used to say,  "Don't ever put anything in writing that you do not want the whole world to read."  Of course, that was long before the age of Internet and no doubt grandmother's concerns were around explicit love letters or nasty comments about Aunt Edna falling into the wrong hands. Nowadays when the modern mother posts pictures/video of herself in less than flattering or possibly highly provocative poses on social networking sites she should not be surprised if there is some sort of fall out.  Whether those pictures end up being forwarded to millions or being seen by unintended observers, the modern mother really has no one to blame but herself.

We are in no way sanctioning the corporate sharing of user data without individuals' consent - but let's not be naive here.  Let's remind ourselves why facebook is valued at $33 Billion.  It's not because of FarmVille.  It's because they and Google and Yahoo and Amazon know everything about you.  Hopefully in the aggregate but apparently not, as this latest breech again illustrates.

Sadly, a user of social media sites can rant and rave all she wants about her 'privacy' on the world-wide web and her 'rights' as a non-paying user of a service no one is forcing her to use.  Unless she convince 6 million of her friends to vacate the site she is unlikely to effect much change any time soon.  Instead, dare we suggest a little discretion?  Risque photos aside, the only 100% effective way a well mannered modern mother can keep her personal information personal is to not put that information on the internet.   This being said, we do hope you continue to log on now and again to read this blog.  Thank you.

Photo Credit - The Social Network - Official Site