I said 2008 would be the year of social network privacy/security, I was right. Now I think that may pour into 2009, the momentum builds.

You may ask: What’s your interest in all this? Are you hacker?

No, although I understand how websites work, I’m not a hacker, in the sense that I’d try to break someone’s software intentionally, try to access information deviously, etc. More generally speaking, a hacker is anyone that writes software for computers. If you’re interested, a good book on the origins of hacking: “Hackers” by Steven Levy, I recommend it. I don’t take the book too seriously though, it’s just one point of view.

Back to the original question: What’s my interest in this? Maybe I’m an amateur sociologist, with access to lots of data, from all of you. Because this blog is very popular I get a feel for what you want to know about Myspace, and I know you’re concerned about privacy/security.

Instead of answering all your specific security/privacy questions, I can pretty much roll them all up and give you this reply: Generally speaking, don’t be paranoid. Unless you have a good reason. Just because someone says it’s possible to see private pictures or messages, don’t believe them. Unless you’re presented with proof. Don’t jump to conclusions. Myspace may not have the best programmers in the world, but you can assume they’re on top of privacy/security issues as they arise. If any rumor turns out to be legit, I’ll let you know, but chances are Myspace closes these loopholes before your best-friend’s hacker-friend finds out about it. You can bet Myspace has a team of lawyers concerned about this too, you’re pretty safe.

But use common sense, nothing is totally private, some Myspace employees will have access to all your information, obviously. And you can assume your government scans all of your data, depending on where you live. But I’m going to assume most of you are more concerned about such-and-such crazy ex-girlfriend/boyfriend spying on you, don’t worry about it. Maybe cut back on your caffeine, or whatever you’re smoking, and relax. If you’re that concerned about privacy, just be more careful about what you post online.

I understand computers are mystifying, most of you don’t even know how they work. But if you ask me, you’re pretty safe. Most programmers are responsible, well-informed and want to keep you and your data safe, if only to keep their jobs.