Monday's Wake Up Call! Does Facebook Timeline feature go too far? -  - GHS Newsroom

Monday's Wake Up Call! Does Facebook Timeline feature go too far?

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By David Arkin
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A Texas county district attorney will use Facebook to screen potential jurors.

Are some of Facebook's new features going too far in the name of user privacy?

Some say yes.

The social media giant is launching a feature called Timeline, which maps everything a user has done on Facebook and tracks their use on the web, outside of Facebook.

Facebook says it's OK, because it's opt in, consumer and privacy groups say no way.

A good one to localize:

— Talk to a legal expert in your community about what should and shouldn't be sharable on the web, by groups like Facebook. Is Facebook safe? Does the expert think that calls to have the Federal Trade Commission look into the issue, will go anywhere?

— Post something on your newspaper's Facebook wall and ask users if they are inclined to use the new Timeline feature and find out if they have any concerns.

— Do users want manual control or are they willing to give up that control for cool new features and free access? Ask the legal expert and your users.

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