Daliah Saper interviewed on ABC News regarding Facebook and Privacy Laws
On August 11, 2011 ABC Reporter Ravi Baichwal interviewed Daliah for a segment titled:
Is Facebook posting phone numbers sans permission?
August 11, 2011 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — Facebook moved to debunk a rumor on the Internet Thursday that users’ phone numbers were accessible to all through individuals’ contact lists.
It is true that a Facebook user can see the phone numbers of their friends, but only those that included that number as part of their Facebook profile. The rub is that those who have imported their personal contact lists to Facebook, say from smartphones, will have those numbers displayed to a user’s other friends, upsetting many, even though Facebook says it is nothing new.
Around the Internet, messages much like this flashed:
I don’t want my number on the internet!!
All phone numbers from your phone are now on Facebook!
It’s a function of privacy settings on Facebook that allow contact phone numbers to be shown to others, depending on the settings you choose. Facebook says that is not new.
“User beware, if you want to avail yourself of the features of Facebook, then you need to understand the rules that govern that usage,” said Internet lawyer Daliah Saper.
Saper has a long list of web-based business clients and counsels regularly on the need to protect one’s privacy on the Internet.
“Put out only information that you know and expect others will see and you have set a lot of privacy limitations around it,” Saper said.