Theres a really insightful flash animation here about what might happen to personal information you post on Facebook. Of course, it is very scary to think about some of the things that Facebook could do with all your information. It turns into a bit of a conspiracy movie in the middle talking about how the US government uses personal information you give to Facebook.
But then people have been saying the same thing about Google for many years; isn’t this an issue with all personalized internet services rather than Facebook in general?

In many ways, in the western world we still have a lot more privacy on the internet than in places like China, where for example you must sign on with your real name and identity.

But still with the internet, anything that you write or post may be archived in servers and hard drives all across the world; every word could come back to haunt you at a later date. Is this just something we should accept as users of the internet? Is it possible to maintain your privacy whilst still benefiting fully from the internet?

I’ve been told by so many people that I should avoid social networking sites. Yet being part of these social networking sites is something that all young people do – it is essential part of having a social life and invaluable tool for keeping in touch with your friends. I suppose that is the dilemma.