medjuck Posted October 16, 2012 Report Posted October 16, 2012 I've been enjoying Facebook and admit to thinking that everyone here knocking it were just moldy figs or paranoid. Not anymore. My wife just posted the following on FB: "ATTN FRIENDS! You should be worried about this: I just had to switch to Safari (from Firefox) for web-browsing and on the home page (for some unknown reason my home page is Yahoo) it's showing me what a bunch of my FB friends (Yahoo users?) have recently searched on-line!!!! You may not want me--or anyone to know--and should check into how this happens. Is it Facebook? Safari? Yahoo? I'll send you a personal message if your info came up. ****Please post if you know anything about how this happens.***" To which I commented: "WTF!!??!" Quote
Big Wheel Posted October 16, 2012 Report Posted October 16, 2012 Uhhhhh......I have a very hard time believing that that is really the case. The tech press would be up in arms about it. Probably something is mimicking real searches or else there is some shady 3rd-party software doing something. Can you upload a screenshot with the names blacked out? Quote
medjuck Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) Uhhhhh......I have a very hard time believing that that is really the case. The tech press would be up in arms about it. Probably something is mimicking real searches or else there is some shady 3rd-party software doing something. Can you upload a screenshot with the names blacked out? I'm not tech savvy enough to do that. But trust me it's true. I saw it. Pictures of 8 of her friends (their FB pictures and what their latest searches were. She just told me that most people had 5 or 6 things listed. It's possible that this was just things they'd clicked on FB, but the headline said "Your friends' recent activity". Under the list of their "activity" its said "To see your friends' activities, turn your social experience ON. This will also let friends on Yahoo! and Facebook see the content you discover." i think they are referring to a yahoo preference. Edited October 16, 2012 by medjuck Quote
Big Wheel Posted October 16, 2012 Report Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) If I had to guess these people are logged into Yahoo Social Bar, which Yahoo claims is completely opt-in, though the devil is in how they've defined "opt-in" - if connecting Yahoo Social Bar to Facebook automatically opts you in to sharing, then that's sort of perverted the idea of opt-in. They should be able to control what they share by logging into Yahoo Social Bar and adjusting their settings, or disconnecting this app from Facebook entirely. Edit:OK, just installed it to see what it does. On the one hand it does automatically opt you in to sharing immediately upon install, which is somewhat shady. On the other, it only appears to display Yahoo News stories you read, not your actual searches on Yahoo. That doesn't make it appear much different than the other social newsreader apps out there like Washington Post Social Reader and whatnot. The main difference is that your activity is shown to people on Yahoo's sites, where they may not be used to seeing it, rather than in the Facebook news feed, where they are used to seeing it. Edited October 16, 2012 by Big Wheel Quote
marcello Posted October 16, 2012 Report Posted October 16, 2012 No problems here, and I have a a Mac, Safari and Facebook. I think Big Wheel has the answer. Frankly, I turn off just about all of the 3rd party apps on Facebook. Quote
medjuck Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) No problems here, and I have a a Mac, Safari and Facebook. I think Big Wheel has the answer. Frankly, I turn off just about all of the 3rd party apps on Facebook. How do you do that? And thanks Big Wheel. Edited October 16, 2012 by medjuck Quote
RDK Posted October 16, 2012 Report Posted October 16, 2012 Some good info here. I too have almost all apps "turned off." http://internet.wonderhowto.com/how-to/control-what-your-friends-see-about-you-their-facebook-tickers-0130113/ Quote
Christiern Posted October 16, 2012 Report Posted October 16, 2012 I have FaceBook turned off permanently—don't trust that little creep and his intrusive site. Quote
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted October 16, 2012 Report Posted October 16, 2012 it's showing me what a bunch of my FB friends (Yahoo users?) have recently searched on-line!!!! Well if any of 'em have discovered anything worthwhile about getting a case of Heidsieck Brut Rosé (Rose Top) for a decent price, please pass it along to me, Joe!!! Quote
Christiern Posted October 16, 2012 Report Posted October 16, 2012 This video ought to give y'all something to think about. Quote
marcello Posted October 16, 2012 Report Posted October 16, 2012 No problems here, and I have a a Mac, Safari and Facebook. I think Big Wheel has the answer. Frankly, I turn off just about all of the 3rd party apps on Facebook. How do you do that? And thanks Big Wheel. Next to the home button, there is a drop down list. Click on "Privacy settings" and edit away. Quote
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