Facebook Timeline "can help thieves or identity frauds"

Fears over the security of Facebook have emerged as the social networking site has made their new Timeline mandatory- a change which can “help thieves or identity frauds", according to a tech security expert.

The update, first seen in December, was met with a mixed reaction as it rolled out across the site’s 800 million profiles. It allows users to do away with their previous profile page and add a Timeline of past events, effectively creating a ‘life story’. This deluge of information is thought to be a goldmine for prospective fraudsters.

“I think people will get a rude awakening when the timeline comes to their profile,” Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluely told Yahoo! News. “This all helps an identity thief, identity frauds or someone who has a vendetta against you to put together more of a picture about you.”

“You’ve always had that much information up on Facebook, it’s just been much harder in the past to see, he added. “In terms of privacy you want to make sure all of your past posts are properly tagged privacy wise because you may have realised you want to be more private last year but not applied those privacy settings to old posts you made,” he added.

[Article: New Facebook Timeline – How your profile will change]

Facebook director of policy in Europe, Richard Allan, told the Leveson Inquiry on Thursday that there should not be external “stringent regulation” on what is posted on the site. 
All of this comes as the social networking site recently settled with the Federal Trade Commission over claims that it deceived users by making their sensitive information readily available. Facebook have allegedly broken a number promises to their 800 million users, including:

1)    Changing private information to be made public without approval in December 2009

2)    Making photos and videos from deactivated accounts still available after they have been cancelled

3)    Sharing private user information with advertisers

In response to the claims Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg made a frank admission on privacy concerns, stating: “I'm the first to admit that we've made a bunch of mistakes,” also blaming “poor execution” on changes made to the social network’s privacy setup in 2009.

Acting over the accessibility of comments and conversation on the site, Facebook have included the option to change who can see certain posts on your Timeline- though personal details are still available if settings are not tweaked.

“They [Facebook] do have a pretty poor history with privacy,” Graham Cluely told Yahoo! News.

“I think they need to make more of an effort to secure people although that is contrary to their business goal which is to use your information to make money through advertising.”