by Bill Rounds Recently by Bill Rounds: Are Your Phone Conversations Recorded?
What What Happens If You Use A Fake Name On Google+ Or Facebook? People love Facebook. Social networking is just a part of what humans do, so the fact that people use online social networks like Facebook and Google+ is no surprise. They are powerful tools for social change, business opportunities and developing strong relationships with friends and family. But, people are nervous about providing their personal information to social networking sites, and with good reason. Social networking sites sell your information to the highest bidder. They make billions of dollars from the information that we give them for free. That information allows repressive governments to easily target undesirables, it could damage a career, or just plain cause embarrassment. How People Protect Personal Information On Social Networking Sites To harness the power of social networking while protecting personal information, some people use fake information in their profiles. There are lots of reasons people provide fake info. Everything from using a fake birthday or city, to using a fake profile picture or name are used by people who fear stalkers, by Egyptian revolutionaries, and by average people to protect their privacy. Only the most dedicated snoops can glean good information from a false trail.
But Facebook’s terms of use states that:
Google+ also states:
Risks Of Using Fake Information In Social Networking Profiles What happens to people who violate these terms of use and include fake info in their profiles? Failure to follow these terms of use simply means that the offending account could be shut down if discovered. Facebook doesn’t sue people for providing fake information and the cops won’t arrest people for using a drawing of a dog as their profile picture.
The likelihood that a social networking site will discover fake information is currently low. Many people use stage names, pen names, pseudonyms and nicknames every day. It is perfectly legal to use those alternate identities in many ways. Those names do not have to be the same as the one on a birth certificate and they can often be far more unique than what is found on a birth certificate. This makes it difficult for sites to tell what information is “real” or “fake,” as Google+ recently found out. Don’t pretend you are someone else, don’t use another person’s real information and don’t commit fraud. That should be easy enough for you to avoid. Are There Alternatives? There are few alternatives to the information diarrhea on Facebook and Google+. Diaspora* is a potentially promising alternative but it is a long way from providing the value that Facebook does. Until Diaspora or some other alternative becomes viable, be careful the information you use to create your social networking profiles. Reprinted with permission from How to Vanish. February 6, 2012 Bill Rounds, J.D. is a California attorney. He holds a degree in Accounting from the University of Utah and a law degree from California Western School of Law. He practices civil litigation, domestic and foreign business entity formation and transactions, criminal defense and privacy law. He is a strong advocate of personal and financial freedom and civil liberties. Copyright © 2012 How to Vanish
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