If you are in data security/cyber security and don't understand the problems with facebook, Giuliani's cyber firm has a position for you.

Facebook is TREMENDOUSLY bad. They use facial recognition to build profiles of people in pictures you post even if they don't have an account. They recently were caught abusing bluetooth to build profiles of phones in the proximity of people's cell phones that had the app installed, using that to build profiles of people with no facebook account that made the mistake of leaving their bluetooth open. There are TONS of facebook abuse stories like this. No one should be using them, and yet, they're everywhere.

I am good, flip phone with no internet. And I do not take the phone everywhere.

I got off several years ago, best. thing. ever.

You don't need internet. Many (all?) flip phones have bluetooth now.

The facebook bluetooth exploit they use means you just have to have bluetooth on (the default for every phone I know of) and come within 20-30 feet of someone WITH facebook installed on THEIR phone and the facebook app/virus on THEIR phone will hook to your flip phone's bluetooth and use that to build a profile of you based on your phone then begin tracking other places you are based on coming in contact with other facebook user's phones other places. It's bad news. Don't leave bluetooth on until you have to connect to something, then turn it off again right away. It's the only way to avoid this.

I have never owned one of those.

I was on facebook about 10-11 yrs ago, for about 9 months, until I found i was wasting too much of my time,
only thing I used it for recently was for finding details about a Class reunion.
I am not on other social media other than pinside, no twitter or instagram etc.
I hope facebook implodes, cause i do feel it is part of the evil empire.

I have never owned a cell phone. Not on MySpace or Facebook or whatever, just Pinside. Maybe I should delete my Pinside account?

Big ol’ disagree. As part of the crowd who grew up right at facebook’s rise and peak of popularity. It came and went. Facebook sucks.
I do have a Facebook and I post a lot of nonsense to stir up ruckus. One of my few enjoyable past times is getting a good post goes and seeing a flame war with some ol’ high school friends/enemies. I am giddy when I see “103 missed comments”
Now you may dismiss this as trolled but an important concept was brought up:

Stopping Facebook from doing that would be like picking fly shit out of the pepper. It's not like that kind of data mining stops if Facebook goes away.

Every thing you do, regardless of what it is, from walking down the street to talking to friends in person is you broadcasting data. From those direct actions, there is untold amounts of dark data created. Being able to capture and act on that dark data is what the industry has become, and it's not going to slow down. Our technology in machine learning is still so juvenile, yet can already provide insights into these massive datasets that our monkey brains can't even begin to parse.

Besides, what you are talking about isn't really cyber security. It's defining the line of what is private and what is not. It's also basic knowledge that people should be equipped with in 2020. To live a life where you aren't being picked up in dark data, you'd have to exist in a hole in the woods and never go near another human again.

Another example... as you wander around a city, there are numerous devices tracking your phone. You mentioned bluetooth, but think about the wifi on your phone. Do you turn that off when you leave the house? If not, as your phone scans for wifi networks, it's broadcasting identifiers unique to that hardware. That data eventually makes it to some large services that contribute to your overall imprint. That's something you can't do anything about other than turn all broadcasts from your phone off. You are putting that information out there and someone is making use of it.

That's just one example. If you think Facebook using bluetooth or facial recognition to identify people is TREMENDOUSLY bad, you'd have a brain explosion like in the movie Scanners if you knew the reality of it. I'd also like to introduce you to your driver's license, the original facial recognition database.

Happy birthday is the worst on Fakebook. I might as well run around Walmart saying "It's my birthday!" 2 years and out on that noise.

I think what is more disturbing is what was the growing attitude that you were some strange person if you DON'T have a facebook account. You don't see it on tech like/ hobby forums, but you do see it out in the real world quite often. As more people grow wiser (or tired) of the FB BS, it doesn't seem to be as common as it was a few years ago.

Never had a fake book account. Recently a friend offered to send pinball marketplace ads. 20 year old flip phone (with a new in box back up from Ebay).
I am addicted to youtube on my computer when I am home looking up obscure technical vids, but it is starting to suffer.
Knowing human nature / Historical patterns there will be a privacy revolution with people trying to return to a simpler time. When 5G is implemented fully, it will be too late.

Yep. When I'm out, wifi is off, bluetooth is off, GPS is off. The only tracking that can be done is cell tower pings, but I'm not sure if Facebook is buying that data from verizon.

Facebook: "It looks like you were recently at Walmart on X street in Kansas City, is that correct"?

Me: Nope. (always lie to them)

That's definitely helping stay lower on the radar.

BTW, I don't have anything against people who have chosen not to use Facebook for any reason. We all have our reasons and Facebook is just some silly side game that everyone gets to make a choice on. I don't like playing golf, some people don't like Facebook.

I also won't allow my kids on social media. For what that's worth.

I don't understand the otherwise smart people that are always taking those "what superhero are you?" or "what celebrity would date you" quizzes? All they do is collect your data...

Glad I'm not the only one that does this.

I don't use it at all (fb) , not signed up etc for any of the social network gimmick's. I think it's a total waste of time. I do text but would rather just talk on the phone or have a personal visit. I spend enough time playing pinball and being on pinside, otherwise want to do physical activities, preferable outside.

In summary I don't like or hate it's just a non factor to me.

Pinside is donation driven, and collects money from marketplace listings. That is all clear. We as users understand our part of that equation.

Facebook is doing who-knows-what with all the data, and worse is the behavior modification. No one understands that, so its not a fair exchange (you give me a free service and in exchange you can do all of this to me).

FB is nothing but trouble. It's a place where people have no respect for other people's relationships and use the site as a dating app or for stalking. I've seen more than one relationship get ruined because of that site. Ironically checking in to locations or who youre with can get them same people in a bind.
Pinside is as far as I go in the social media world.

Don't love it or hate it.

And don't need it or use it.

Also don't need people that tell me I need to be on it.

Whats Facebook?

.

Don’t use it. Don’t need it. Talk to plenty of people without it. Buy plenty of things without it.

Knew you were going to say that!
Not on it...... Not gonna be.

LOL.....how'd you guess? Now where did I put that darn cell phone of mine?......LOL.

John

I'm pretty much the only one I know my age without a FB. I'm 30.
I never agreed with the terms and conditions so never signed up

I do wish i could see the marketplace and pinball tournament's but I made it this long.

I finally gave in last year and created a bogus account with bogus name just to access marketplace which is quite amazing to buy and sell stuff...always been a CL guy but it looks like I’m a RandomGuyOffFB now too

Oh and what’s with all the super cute n slutty chicks FB recommends I be friends with...wtf is up with that homewreckin type shit?

Facebook – My wife has been on Facebook for years. About a month ago I finally joined just to see the pinball groups. Last week I went on and it said I have to log-on. When I tried to log-on it said my password needed to be changed and I needed to send my e-mail to get a code to log-on. I did that and entered the code. Then it said I needed to send my phone number to get a text. No way in hell am I going to send Facebook my phone number. I guess I’m just locked out of Facebook.

Besides, what if I don’t have a phone that uses text?

Dr. Zuckenstein created a monster that keeps going on terrifying rampages while he sits back, does nothing, and wonders why so many people hate him.

Imagine if everyone at the Super Bowl each had an always-on microphone connected to the stadium’s PA system. What could possibly go wrong with that? Now add to that massive concealed surveillance that would make the KGB look like an army of Inspector Clouseaus and you begin to get the idea of what Facebook is and does for the world.

This dude will become the most powerful man in the world if he isn’t already...he will be president someday...he already runs around with a secret service detail which rivals that of the US govt.

I heard he just ripped off someone else's deal and then proceeded to get rich off it.

Not sure what it is about that dude, but him and his kind, I can definitely do without.

I had it for a while but deleted my account several years ago. For one thing all my “friends” annoyed the shit out of me with their inane posts. It was like a curated view of everyone’s life trying to show only the best parts and competing for who had the best life. When in reality you know bad life things happen, but no one posts “today my dad punched me in the face again”. Then there are all the privacy issues. You are giving this corporation immense data about yourself and everyone you know and they sell that to companys that use it to target you with ads. Even if you are not on Facebook someone posts a picture with you in it and they learn about you. Did you know that any photo you upload becomes property of Facebook and they can do anything they want with it? So all this, and what do the users get out of it? Okay they get a social fix, get to have false food feelings about keep up with the joneses digitally, pretend to everyone their life is great, stay “connected” to their friends even tho the communication is actually poor and very shallow. The whole thing is a mess, a cesspool, preys on the worst instincts of human nature, and the company gets rich. It’s hard to think of anything more disgusting.

I’ll tell you how I really feel next time.

Yeah, like I want to go on there and find some old lady I dated in high school. lol

Or any of my buddies that are still alive that are no longer incarcerated. Or worse yet, married, old, and bald.

Oh come on...you don’t like emperors?

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You can see the marketplace. You just can't contact anyone - find someone you trust who can contact for you

That's how many of the 'tech giants' got their start.

I have a feeling he's not a Roman or even an Italian. lol

Just some poser. With greed in his blood.

Ask Bernie Madoff about that. I wouldn't doubt they might be related.

Facebook has dozens of pinball, arcade and coin-op groups. The EM PINBALL group has almost 6,000 members. I spend most of my time in that group, as well as in the Prewar group and the Woodrail group. All of the modern pinball manufacturers have a FB presence.

Most FB groups are free of drama, in part, because the "downvote" option is nonexistent and most administrators don't tolerate negativity.

Enthusiasts are sharing information and constantly posting hobby-related photos and videos. Pinball machines are bought and sold daily on these groups and in the Facebook marketplace, which is essentially a safer form of Let-Go or Craigslist. The FB connection has a personal vibe so sales seem to happen rather swiftly. Also, you can instantly become acquainted and learn enough about each other to determine the integrity of the parties to the transaction. This feature is important because it facilitates sales, helping both buyer and seller.

Even Google's RecGamesPinball seems to have migrated to Facebook. While I understand the privacy and other concerns about FB, I personally enjoy the plentiful pinball options, after 35 years in the hobby. Pinside, Facebook, RGP, KLOV. . .it's all fun. I don't know whether people are using their personal pages more or less frequently these days. I do know that pinball has exploded on Facebook these last 5 years and it's growing at a geometric rate.

If they told me I had to have Facebook to fill out an application so I could VOLUNTEER my time I'd be out of there so fast there'd be a vacuum in my wake.

Another thing I can't understand is these people who PAY to have surveillance cameras in their house so they can check their house on-line. Do you really think you're the only one watching? Or those little boxes the monitor all your conversations.