Insider Chatter by Donna Bogatin

Facebook believes it is (far) superior to News Corp.’s MySpace. Founder Mark Zuckerberg incredulously insists that MySpace is not even a Facebook competitive peer. After all, Facebook is a “social utility,” not a mere “social network,” he proclaims.

Why shouldn’t Zuckerberg and his Facebook be cocky? After all, the Web’s “luminaries” are lining up to pre-ordain Facebook the “next Google” and certify it as “one of the most significant milestones in the technology industry in this decade,” despite that is barely out of the F8 gate!

F8 may be new, but the Facebook privacy policy is not. AND, it is coming under scrutiny; From analysts such as myself, and the courts.

In the case of T.V. vs. Union Township Board of Education, a judge is considering if communciations between users at social networks is “discoverable in civil matters,” as ISP routed emails are. Communications via both MySpace and Facebook are at issue.

A reading of the Facebook privacy policy indicates that Facebooker activities are not as “private” or “protected” as users of Facebook might believe. Below are excerpts, followed by excerpts of the MySpace privacy policy as well.

THE INFORMATION FACEBOOK COLLECTS

When you visit Facebook you provide us with two types of information: personal information you knowingly choose to disclose that is collected by us and Web Site use information collected by us as you interact with our Web Site.

You post User Content on the Site at your own risk. Although we allow you to set privacy options that limit access to your pages, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable.

We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Site. You understand and acknowledge that, even after removal, copies of User Content may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other Users have copied or stored your User Content.

Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services, and other users of the Facebook service through the operation of the service (e.g., photo tags) in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalized experience.

USE OF INFORMATION OBTAINED BY FACEBOOK

By using Facebook, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.

Facebook may use information in your profile without identifying you as an individual to third parties. We do this for purposes such as aggregating how many people in a network like a band or movie and personalizing advertisements and promotions so that we can provide you Facebook. We believe this benefits you. You can know more about the world around you and, where there are advertisements, they’re more likely to be interesting to you.

FACEBOOK SHARING OF USER INFORMATION WITH THIRD PARTIES

We may provide information to service providers to help us bring you the services we offer. In connection with these offerings and business operations, our service providers may have access to your personal information for use for a limited time in connection with these business activities. Where we utilize third parties for the processing of any personal information, we implement reasonable contractual and technical protections limiting the use of that information to the Facebook-specified purposes.

THIRD PARTY APPLICATION PROVIDERS USE OF FACEBOOK USER INFORMATION

Facebook does not screen or approve Platform Developers and cannot control how such Platform Developers use any personal information that they may obtain in connection with Platform Applications.

REMOVING USER INFORMATION AT FACEBOOK

Individuals who wish to deactivate their Facebook account may do so on the My Account page. Removed information may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time but will not be generally available to members of Facebook.

Where you make use of the communication features of the service to share information with other individuals on Facebook, however, (e.g., sending a personal message to another Facebook user) you generally cannot remove such communications.

Below are excerpts of the MySpace privacy policy.

MYSPACE INFORMATION COLLECTION AND USE

MySpace.com collects user submitted information.

MySpace.com also logs non-personally-identifiable information including IP address, profile information, aggregate user data, and browser type, from users and visitors to the site. This non-personally-identifiable information may be shared with third parties to provide more relevant services and advertisements to members. User IP adresses are recorded for security and monitoring purposes.

Users within a personal network communicate on MySpace with each other throught the MySpace.com service, without disclosing their email adresses. Users full names are never directly revealed to other members. MySpace.com allows users to search for other members using first and last name, email address, and schools and/or companies where users may have attended or woked.

MYSPACE USE OF COOKIES

MySpace.com uses cookies to store visitors’ preferences and to record session information.

MySpace.com does not link the information it stores in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our site.

You must enable cookies from MySpace.com in order to use most functions on the site. MySpace.com allows 3rd party advertisers that are presenting advertisements on some of its pages to set and access their cookies on your computer. Advertisers’ use of cookies is subject to their own privacy policies, not the MySpace.Com privacy policy.

CORRECTING/UPDATING OR REMOVING INFORMATION AT MYSPACE

MySpace.com users may modify or remove any of their personal information at tany time by logging into their account and accessing features such as Edit Profile and Account Info.

MYSPACE SECURITY

MySpace.com takes precautions to insure that member account information is kept private. We cannot guarantee the security of member account information. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure, or other factors may compromise the security of member information at any time.

BOTTOM PRIVACY LINES? While the privacy policies of the two social networking leaders differ in presentation and length, they yield similar privacy conclusions: Both Facebookers and MySpacers use the systems at their own risk.

MySpace and Facebook both claim user privacy and control, while at the same time allowing third party access to members and disclaiming any ultimate repsonsibility for any eventual privacy breaches for any reason whatsoever.

Just as T.V. vs. Union Township Board of Education is not case closed, MySpace and Facebook user privacy risks are also a matter open for continued debate.

ALSO: Read my report on what Esther Dyson had to say about Facebook, yesterday in New York City in Google Beware: Facebook Love Blooms

PLUS: Beware Ning Love: Where is YOUR Social Network?

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN