Friday, December 7, 2012

"Helpful" Photo Saving Feature on Facebook



Webnotes by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC. Content also covered on WBTV's segment "Protecting Your Cyberturf" featuring Theresa Payton and Kristen Miranda.
We have warned you before about reading and thinking before you click on “ok” when you are asked to turn on location or enable a feature.  There’s a reason, sometimes these features are helpful but sometimes you are opting in to give up some of your privacy.  The new feature on Facebook could be helpful but you want to know what you are getting into before you use it.

It’s funny because this new Facebook feature helps you save your photos so you never lose a photo again when your tablet or phone crashes.  And in this case, unlike their usual tactics, Facebook didn’t just turn the feature on without asking.  But cyber expert, Theresa Payton says, there’s a risk to your privacy and security if you don’t tweak it before you use it.  

Theresa is worried about 3 things:  your data plan, privacy, and security



TIPS:

1.  You may see a “Get started” message on  your device

2.  When you “Get started”, Facebook will automatically upload the last 20 photoss and will then automatically upload EVERY PHOTO you take from that point forward.  

3.  Even though you still have to allow that photo to be seen by others, Facebook can still “look” at the photo to mine it for information (geo codes for location or facial recognition for example)



WORD OF THE WEEK:  DOCKSTER.

Dockster is a malware made for the Mac.  The malicious software was recently spotted infecting machines when unsuspecting people visited the Dalai Lama’s website.



Did you accidentally turn this feature on and want to change that?  You can turn off the Facebook Photo Sync:  
instructions

Do you have the “Dockster” Mac malware?  Not sure?  Try going to Sopho’s web site for a free tool to check and remove it:  
anti-virus tool.

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