New Tumblr Blog Raises Privacy Concerns Over Facebook Graph Search

That didn’t take long, did it? Tom Scott, one of the current users of Facebook Graph Search, has started a Tumblr blog to document its potential privacy train wrecks.

“I just got Graph Search and it’s actually so creepy that I’ve started this Tumblr to document it,” Scott wrote on Facebook yesterday.

His blog offers examples of searches that are a mix of comedy and creepiness, in my opinion. He has things like “Single women who live nearby and who are interested in men and like Getting Drunk,” “Mothers of Jews who like Bacon” and this one below, “Married people who like Prostitutes … these people’s spouses.”

Facebook has improved its privacy settings and options in recent months (many would argue it was something that should’ve been improved long ago), and made privacy one of the key discussion points when it launched Graph Search eight days ago. There’s a lengthy page that explains how search results will be different for different users, how to manage the various privacy options that are impacted by Graph Search and more.

There’ve been numerous studies in recent years addressing Internet users’ attitudes toward online privacy. Many of those studies have suggested that users say they’re concerned about privacy, but fewer actually take substantial action to protect themselves online.

As Scott says on his blog, “Facebook does have good privacy settings: but there are many, many people who don’t know how to use them!”