In case you were wondering why tenants choose to rent self storage units, look no further. Facebook will tell you. Three San Francisco developers have come up with a free web application, called Openbook, that lets you search Facebook status messages. Luckily, there are tools you can use to make sure that your status messages are not among the ones that come up when people search Openbook.
Searching for “storage unit” on Openbook provides a plethora of status messages:
- June (last name left out to protect her privacy more than Facebook did) is moving to Cedar Falls, where she just got a new job, and had to clean out her storage unit. Clicking on her name brings the Openbook user to June’s Facebook page, which tells us the history of her job search and also lets us know that one day she was so tired that she put her toaster in the freezer.
- Openbook also tells us that Amber in Virginia Beach is looking for a storage unit that will be affordable but will still hold a houseful of stuff. Linking to her page not only gives us the name and age of her child but also lets us know that she really likes the frappes at McDonald’s.
- Destinye lost her home, but she still has a car, a job, a storage unit, and her church.
- Jennifer has to clean out her storage unit; she’s moving and has a 19-hour drive ahead of her. She’s a military wife and her Facebook page has a link to her personal web page, which has pictures, names, and ages of her beautiful children.
- Louise in Hoboken is using a storage unit to hold all her paints, papers and art supplies. A link to her web page brings us to Louise’s resume.
- Jeffery in Michigan is collecting human and animal hair, and women’s pantyhose, to contribute to the oil cleanup effort in the Gulf of Mexico, and he thinks he will soon have to rent a storage unit to hold it all.
- Lisa is getting a storage unit before being deployed by the Navy. Her Facebook page links us to her significant other and even tells us their anniversary.
The private information that a search like “storage unit” pulls up is relatively innocuous -- but full of links to even more information on personal websites that these users might prefer not to have strangers see. Moreover, Openbook lets users search for any term they please. Openbook will give you a whole list of strangers who just got a new tattoo, as a high school student in Minnesota (favorite TV show: Family Guy) just did, or who just quit their jobs, like Emmy Lou of New South Wales (favorite movie: Fight Club). It will also tell you the likes and dislikes of complete strangers, in case you were a businessperson trying to identify your target market.
There are two privacy issues here: one is the private information that Facebook users post in their status messages, the information page in their profiles, and the photos that they upload. The other is the private information contained in the private webpages of Facebook users, who often include their personal webpages in their profile without even thinking about it.
The self storage industry is one of those industries where privacy is a concern. Self storage owners and operators have policies in place to protect the privacy of tenants. But we all need to pay attention to what information is available publicly, over the Internet. (Dixon Self Storage had a spring cleaning today -- and, watch out, Dixon not only has security cameras and fences, but also a watch dog.)
Openbook founder Will Moffat says that the purpose of the Openbook site is to make users aware of how easy it is to troll private information from Facebook. “Our goal,” said Moffat in today’s PC Pro, “is to get Facebook to restore the privacy of this information, so that this website and others like it no longer work.”
In the meantime, though, privacy has been left in the hands of individuals, and some computer programmers are developing tools that can be used to set up Facebook’s settings so that they offer each user who opts to stick with Facebook the maximum amount of privacy possible. One of these tools is a tool called “Scan for privacy,” which is offered free by ReclaimPrivacy.org. Users can drag the tool to a toolbar, go to the Facebook page, and then click on “Scan for privacy.” The tool will scan the user’s Facebook settings to see if they are set for the maximum amount of privacy possible.
Another option, suggested by productivity website Lifehacker, is to set up a new email address to use only with Facebook, start a new Facebook account, friend the old Facebook account (to make it easier to transfer your friends), and then deactivate the old account. You can then plan to use the new account only to keep track of statuses of friends and to write statuses that don’t reveal private information, leaving the profile and photo sections completely blank.
Sources used:
Benjamin,Yobie. “A real example of why Facebook privacy is a problem.” The San Francisco Chronicle blog. May 14, 2010.
Bilton, Nick. “Price of Facebook privacy? Start clicking.” The New York Times. May 12, 2010.
Gordon, Whitson. "How to quit Facebook without actually quitting Facebook." Lifehacker. May 14, 2010.
Mitchell, Stewart. “New site exposes Facebook users’ secrets.” PC Pro. May 17, 2010.
Raphael, JR. “Facebook privacy: secrets unveiled.” PC World. May 16, 2010.
Raphael, JR. “Test your Facebook privacy settings: here’s how.” PC World. May 17, 2010.
Reclaimprivacy.org.