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Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

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Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#101

Post by slavik81 »

morgante wrote: post #21

I wish the EFF and others who are against using real names would at least acknowledge the drawbacks of pseudonyms and the proliferation of fake accounts and fake names which comes with them. The real name policy has huge benefits. I'm not constantly bombarded by fake friend requests like I am on Twitter, Skype, or any other platform which allows random usernames. Even more importantly, I can easily find the people in…

> I'm not constantly bombarded by fake friend requests like I am on Twitter, Skype, or any other platform which allows random usernames.

Really? I constantly get Facebook friend requests from pretty women in skimpy clothes with 6 to 10 friends.

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#102

Post by kuschku »

jawns wrote: post #33
pjc50 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, they're not using the name you know because they don't want you or other casual acquaintances to find them.

It seems like this sort of privacy control could be put in place without resorting to pseudonyms. For instance: you register using your real name/"authentic identity", but you select a restrictive privacy option that says that your profile won't show up when people search for your name on Facebook; nobody can friend-request you; and all your posts and other info is visible to friends only. Voila, you now have a priva…

You do know that for some years you could find people by phone number, even if they were hiding their profile from search?

And for Facebook’s Caller ID this API endpoint is still existing.

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#103

Post by taswal_tmanir »

morgante wrote: post #21

I wish the EFF and others who are against using real names would at least acknowledge the drawbacks of pseudonyms and the proliferation of fake accounts and fake names which comes with them. The real name policy has huge benefits. I'm not constantly bombarded by fake friend requests like I am on Twitter, Skype, or any other platform which allows random usernames. Even more importantly, I can easily find the people in…

> People who are trying to disconnect their Facebook identity from their real world identity are not using Facebook the way it's meant to be used and should probably just leave it.

The way Facebook is "meant" to be used is to maximize their revenue from data mining.

This is clearly not something we, the users, should be caring about.

> That being said, Facebook could definitely do a better job of making it easier for people to prove that a name is their everyday name even when it's not their legal name.

How is that even possible? There's no authority for "proving" nicknames, and I highly doubt Facebook is going to bother hiring judges to evaluate non-standard evidence. Not when it's easier, and more profitable, just to demand everyone's legal name.

> but I'd love to hear an argument over why access to Facebook is a right

Why not flip it around, and ask why Facebook has the right to demand our real names? In some countries, at least, it's seeming that it doesn't. " rel="nofollow">http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/29/germany-fi...

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#104

Post by Nadya »

Swizec wrote: post #88
nsgi wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have her number in your phone?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But I don't remember giving FB permission to view my phone numbers.

If you have the FB app installed it has access to your contacts.

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#105

Post by walshemj »

greggman wrote: post #35
jawns wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sincerely curious ... how is a social network like Facebook, which is built around connecting you with your real-world friends and acquaintances, supposed to work if you can't require users to identify themselves in a meaningful way? The little "people you may know" widget is really useful, because it shows me names I recognize from my offline life. If it's just a random stream of pseudonyms and online handles, t…

I know several people online by pseudonyms only. If I wanted to add them on facebook I'd add their pseudonym. I also know people who don't go by their real name in real life. I know John's that go by Sean. I know Richard's that go by Dick. I know another Richard that goes by Greg. I suspect that 95% of his friends don't know his "real" name is Richard. I also know 2 Cyrils that go by Rocky and I suspect only their ve…

Yes I know quiet few people from the pre internet days and I remember their handles but not their real names.

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#106

Post by kuschku »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #66
gorena wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure that you can already do all of this. I can't currently find the option to entirely de-list from search, but I thought I had it on before.

You can de-list pretty much all information about you - without a publicly visible profile picture and your current location (city/country), you're pretty much impossible to find among others who share your first and last name. And yes, Facebook has enough users now that if you live in a big city, it's likely you'll find a few people sharing your first and last name in the same city.

Unless you have a very uncommon name, or live in a smaller city. I live in a 280k city and everyone with my last name in the phonebook is related to me, and on Facebook only me, my sister, my uncle and my cousin have an account.

My full name exists less than a dozen times on Facebook in all of Germany, and the name does not occur anywhere in the world outside of northern Germany.

This is quite an issue.

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#107

Post by tedunangst »

Nadya wrote: post #104
Swizec wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But I don't remember giving FB permission to view my phone numbers.

If you have the FB app installed it has access to your contacts.

There are phones for which that may not be true.

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#108

Post by TeMPOraL »

dunkelheit wrote: post #72
morgante wrote: post #21

I wish the EFF and others who are against using real names would at least acknowledge the drawbacks of pseudonyms and the proliferation of fake accounts and fake names which comes with them. The real name policy has huge benefits. I'm not constantly bombarded by fake friend requests like I am on Twitter, Skype, or any other platform which allows random usernames. Even more importantly, I can easily find the people in…

Real-name internet identities have some drawbacks compared to their real-world counterparts: 1. In real life its fairly easy (and I would say healthy) to have multiple "identities", say your workday exquisitely professional identity and weekend identity which enjoys goofy antics with friends. In infinitely googlable internet - not so much. I guess mitigating this is the idea behind google+ circles but I have never us…

> In real life its fairly easy (and I would say healthy) to have multiple "identities", say your workday exquisitely professional identity and weekend identity which enjoys goofy antics with friends.

I think Facebook primarily targets the second one. Though personally, I find the whole concept of this type of multiple identities weird. Why should I present a different identity at work than I do in personal affairs?

And if your boss objects to your weekend parties, then (unless we're talking PR-heavy industry, you being in the spotlight) you should consider changing jobs. Caring about such issues is as sign of serious problems in the company.

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#109

Post by Swizec »

Nadya wrote: post #104
Swizec wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But I don't remember giving FB permission to view my phone numbers.

If you have the FB app installed it has access to your contacts.

Let me rephrase, I don't want it to have access to my contacts and did not realize that it does. Now that I know it likely does, I am discomforted.

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#110

Post by Swizec »

aianus wrote: post #94
Swizec wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tellingly, my female FB friends are much more likely to obfuscate their names (and get blocked for it). This is the part of Facebook that's really creepy. As a guy who used to date around a lot, I was surprised by how well the "find user" function works. You connect with someone on Tinder, and meet up in real life. You have no friends in common, no digital connection other than a week-old Tinder conversation consis…

I don't see the problem. A friend request is hardly that threatening. If you don't accept his/her fb request, how can he/she bother you?

It's not about the friend request per se, it's about being able to find people.

A large part of your FB profile is public. At the very least, I now know your last name. Maybe even your birthday.

In a lot of cases, that's enough to perform some light identity theft. Or I can find your exact address. Or I can find out where you work, or just see all the places you like hanging out at and so on and so on.

I don't want to be that easily findable by strangers, which is why I consistently use a "fake" identity online and offline. It's still me, everyone knows me as Swizec Teller, the name just doesn't have anything to do with my legal first and last name. And my legal name is purposefully difficult to tie with this identity unless you have certain background knowledge.

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