The matter of a user’s privacy on websites like Facebook has been an ongoing debate among a very large number of people. Despite the fact that the vast majority of Facebook itself can be set to only allow your friends to see anything at all except your name and a picture, the applications that millions of people use through Facebook are constantly getting your information and using it for any number of things — everything from deciding which ads to show on sidebars to gaining your computer’s location based on your IP address.
Still, there are millions of people worldwide who use Facebook every day for uploading pictures, videos, and information about where they are, what they’re doing, and how they’re feeling. There is one group of people, however, who has decided to make a stand against the privacy, or lack thereof, that Facebook has given its millions of users.
Certain members of the hacker group known as Anonymous have decided to make a stand against Facebook; through a message sent to Internet users all over the world via YouTube, the group has declared it is going to “kill Facebook” Nov. 5, 2011. Strange that an organization devoted to finding, getting, and using your information is concerned about the privacy that Facebook offers.
Information from mashable.com states that this comes after the group’s Google+ account, called “Your Anon News,” was banned. The group also has plans to create its own social networking website at AnonPlus.com. They state that this networking website will be “a new social network where there is no fear — of censorship — of blackout — nor of holding back.”
At Business Insider, an update has been made to the original article, claiming, according to a “tipster,” Facebook will not actually be destroyed in the sense that the website will be hijacked so badly it isn’t repairable. Rather, Anonymous claims there is a much more likely chance of a DDoS (denial of service) attack. This type of attack would leave Facebook intact but would render the website inaccessible to users for anywhere from minutes to hours at a time.
Some users of Facebook might take this claim, and the ability to hack the world’s leading social networking website, as a joke. It only takes one simple reminder that Anonymous is the same hacking organization that successfully hacked into things such as: Iran’s government emails, the Pentagon, IMF News Corp, and Anders Breivik’s Twitter Account, among many, many other places, to quell the laughter.
The full text of the announcement, released on YouTube, is as follows:
“Attention citizens of the world,
“We wish to get your attention, hoping you heed the warnings as follows:
“Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed. If you are a willing hacktivist or a guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill Facebook for the sake of your own privacy.
“Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so that they can spy on people from all around the world. Some of these so-called whitehat infosec firms are working for authoritarian governments, such as those of Egypt and Syria.
“Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your “privacy” settings, and deleting your account is impossible; even if you ‘delete’ your account, all your personal info stays on Facebook and can be recovered at any time. Changing the privacy settings to make your Facebook account more ‘private’ is also a delusion. Facebook knows more about you than your family.
http://www.physorg.com/news170614271.html
http://itgrunts.com/2010/10/07/facebook-steals-numbers-and-data-from-your-iph….
“You cannot hide from the reality in which you, the people of the Internet, live in. Facebook is the opposite of the Antisec cause. You are not safe from them nor from any government. One day you will look back on this and realize what we have done here is right, you will thank the rulers of the Internet, we are not harming you but saving you.
“The riots are underway. It is not a battle over the future of privacy and publicity. It is a battle for choice and informed consent. It’s unfolding because people are being raped, tickled, molested, and confused into doing things where they don’t understand the consequences. Facebook keeps saying that it gives users choices, but that is completely false. It gives users the illusion of and hides the details away from them ‘for their own good’ while they then make millions off of you. When a service is ‘free,’ it really means they’re making money off of you and your information.
“Think for a while and prepare for a day that will go down in history. November 5 2011, #opfacebook. Engaged.
“This is our world now. We exist without nationality, without religious bias. We have the right to not be surveilled, not be stalked, and not be used for profit. We have the right to not live as slaves.
“We are anonymous
We are legion
We do not forgive
We do not forget
Expect us”