Just a thought....

I have read your book, and read the first chapter twice. I'm afraid I'm not clear on this:

"Put in a temporary forwarding address with the post office.... At the end of this temporary period, cancel the service."

I guess I'm not getting it: Does this mean the temporary forwarding or the P.O./CRMA itself?

Thank you!

... Cancel the temporary forwarding service, not the CMRA. Then close the PO Box.

I looked at the receipt and it had my vehicle license plate number printed on it! Beware.

i tried to install it on a cd, but i got a mess that said it could not be run from a read only source. what did i do wrong? do i need to get a flash drive.

last time i copied a file it was to a floppy, so i'm pretty rusty.

any suggestions? thanx.

Thanks for the article Jay! I think the arguments and facts are right on! But the solution presented - to delete or deactivate your Facebook account - is nothing short of paranoia. Moreover, there’s much you can do to fix the privacy issue and keep the benefits of having a social networking account. Often, “eliminating” is the simplest and most effective method, but here we are overlooking a few important solutions.

A year ago, I decided to start using Facebook differently, rather than not using it at all. Below, you will find the “protocol” I followed to reach my privacy standards. For those in hurry, I suggest you scroll down to the conclusion. I think my approach, unlike that of many conservative privacy advocates, better takes into account the realities of the “You-Tube-and-Facebook” generation. I know, because I’m part of it. That said, the following lines remain subjective and reflect only but my opinion on the matter.

For those who already have a Facebook account (and who display their private information and photos the way a strip dancer would undress herself on stage), I am sorry to say that no matter what you do now, your information will always be retrievable (namely, through server backups). Yet, it’s not because your data is retrievable that it is readily available to the public. They’re ways to lessen the damages.

I already had an account. My privacy settings were not extremely high but I was careful in choosing what information could be displayed. But this was insufficient. So this is what I did:

1) I started by downloading this simple program called “My Facebook Contacts” to backup the contact details of all my friends onto my computer. 2) I then wrote a sample message, which I sent to all my contacts, telling them I was now deleting my Facebook account for privacy reasons. 3) I then proceeded to removing each and every one of them from my contact list manually, clicking the “Remove from Friends” button next to the name of the contact. 4) I untagged myself from every picture, video or any other media for that matter. 5) I made a backup of all my photo and video albums onto my computer. 6) For privacy reasons, I had never activated my wall so there was nothing to delete there. This should be done as well. 7) I deleted all my network and group affiliations. 8) NOW, this is important, I did NOT deactivate my account. Deactivating your account does NOT delete your account as such. Your data is safeguarded indefinitely onto the servers, and would still be accessible to any private investigator willing to pay enough to retrieve it. Instead, I deleted it. For obvious reasons, Facebook does not publicize this method. The link is “buried” (as properly said by Dan Yoder in his article) in the online help.

Once your account is deleted, if you persist in wanting to have a new Facebook account, this is what I suggest you do. This is what I did:

1) I created a new account using my secondary e-mail address (“ghost” account) and a pen name. Now, here, some will say this is illegal because the Facebook “Terms and Conditions” specify that any information should be “truthful”. But honestly, how in the world would they verify that? If you are uncomfortable with this alternative, simply use your middle names, omitting both your first and last name. As far as I know, using middle names or initials remains totally legal. 2) First thing you do once your account is created, is going to “Privacy Settings” and increasing all your privacy settings to their maximum level. In that way, no one will be able to Google search your middle names (in case somebody knows them). Your profile will just go “invisible”; no one will be able to send you friend requests (unless using a friend’s profile as proxy), browse your profile or even search your profile on Facebook (other than those you’ve accepted as friends). 3) Deactivate your wall. Use your e-mail to communicate with people. 4) Do not join any religious, political or social groups and networks. They tell a lot about you. 5) Do not put a picture of yourself as a profile picture. For example, mine displays a beautiful mountain landscape. 6) Do not upload any video or picture of yourself onto your profile. Do not tag yourself in any picture either. 7) Pretty much, the rule is, do NOT upload, post or display any information (ie, written, audio, video) that could reveal anything about you. 8) Now, Facebook policies reserve them the right to deactivate your account if no information is posted on a regular basis. I personally log on every 4 to 6 days to upload pictures of random people (ie, just type “people” in Google image) or places. Every once in a while, I also change my status quote from, “Hello world!” to say, “I scratch my head”. Just provide totally irrelevant information to keep you account from being deactivated. Try to make it look personal, but NOT relevant to YOUR person. 9) Now, remember your backup contact list? Browse through it and select those “Friends” who REALLY are friends. I have 18 of those (most are family members), not 3000! 10) Send them a friend request. Also send them an e-mail, using your secondary e-mail account, telling them it’s you. Do not forget to discuss with them your need for privacy (ie, “If you happen to have any picture of me, do not tag me unless I tell you so.”) Otherwise, just give them a call. It’s easier to explain. 11) This step is optional. But for business and social purposes, I decided to join several academic networks. When you are part of a network, often times, partial if not full profile of its members is accessible. Since I do not display any personal information on my profile, I have nothing to give away. But it gives me access to often more than 30,000 personal Facebook profiles per university campus (partial or complete)! I use this for recruiting, profiling and screening candidates for my company, or sometimes just for surveying. Just be careful in choosing “neutral” networks (ie, what not to do: Network Name - People Who Live on my Street XXXX, Toronto”). Just use common sense. Networks require that you provide an e-mail address that associates you with a particular group or organization. I usually use a nominee for that (ie, “Frank, do you mind if I use your university address to join that network?”).

Now let’s see what I’ve accomplished through these simple steps. I have a first layer of privacy using the enhanced privacy settings of Facebook. No one (with the exception of my friends, some crooked Facebook employee and some very well paid investigators) will have access to my personal profile. Now, if by any chance, someone manages to bypass that first layer of safety, what is there to be found on my profile? Other than a couple galleries of animal and landscape pictures, and a few comments that make no sense, absolutely nothing. (But CAREFUL here: although nothing is displayed about your person, private investigators could see who your friends are, try to contact them, then extract some information about you. So just make sure they know how much you value your privacy.)

I, on my side, can read through my friends profile as if they were newspapers. I want to know what they’re doing now, where they live, how to reach them, what is the name of their new dog - I just browse through their profile. But I seldom ever use Facebook to communicate with them. I either use my main or a secondary e-mail account for that purpose. If you decide to join a network, now, you potentially have access to well over 30,000 partial or complete profiles. How is that for comparative advantage?

Enjoy, Jay

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