MySpace: Another SNAFU, This Time with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan

MySpace is back in the news. This time it's an American celebrity story, with a lesson for the rest of us, and a trashed house in Australia. Articles about the two latest MySpace SNAFUs, and related items:

• "Privacy flaw exposes Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan’s private MySpace photos"
  ZDNet (June 4, 2008)
  • "The recently introduced data availability initiative at MySpace allowing everyone to share their profile data with other community and social networking sites across the Web, has just suffered its first major privacy flaw exposing the private photos of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, prompting Yahoo and MySpace to disable the data availability between the services until they fix the flaw:
  • "Pictures of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan from private MySpace profiles can be seen by anyone on the Internet, thanks to a flaw in a system that helps the social-networking site share information with other Web sites. The incident underscores a new challenge for businesses: Security becomes a multi-front challenge once you start sharing information outside your walls.
  • "Byron Ng — a computer technician who earlier this year found a way to access Paris Hilton’s Facebook page — walked the tech-gossip blog Valleywag through a 15-step process that allows people to see supposedly-private pictures and other information by first logging into Yahoo, which is one of the sites that shares information with MySpace...."
• "MySpace party caused $30,000 damage to Como house"
  The Sunday Times (Australia) (June 4, 2008)
  • "KENSINGTON detectives have charged dozens of teenagers allegedly responsible for trashing a vacant Como house during a wild party which left a $30,000 damage bill.
  • "An intensive month long investigation has identified about 50 revellers aged between 15 and 18 who have been charged with more than 60 offences, including aggravated burglary, criminal damage and trespassing.
  • "Every window in the vacant rental property was smashed, every door was kicked in and rooms were scrawled with graffiti during the April 24 party, which was advertised through MySpace sites and via text messages....
• "What Every Parent Should Know About The Leading Social Networking Sites, Including Facebook, MySpace, Gizmo, HI5 and YouTube"
  Send2Press (June 4, 2008)
  • This article discusses Omni Publishing's new DVD, "A Parent's Guide to Social Networking Sites," to be released June 16. The DVD tells about dangers on social networking sites, with advice about how to avoid them.
• "MySpace sexual assault suit dismissed"
  CNN (May 16, 2008)
  • " NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Federal law gives MySpace.com immunity from a lawsuit over the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl by a man she met on the social networking Web site, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
  • "The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that a Texas girl's family filed against MySpace and its parent company, News Corp. The family said MySpace didn't protect young users from sexual predators.
  • "The appeals court ruled that the Communications Decency Act of 1996 bars such lawsuits against Web-based services like MySpace. A federal judge in Austin, Texas, dismissed the $30 million lawsuit on the same grounds last year...."

There's a lesson or two in this latest MySpace SNAFU has a lesson or two for everyone with an online presence.

A point that should be obvious, but isn't is: The Internet is for communication and information sharing - not for storing embarrassing photos.

It's possible to keep online data secure, although not perfectly: as the occasional news about stolen credit card account information shows. But, good information management and sensible use of technology seems to be fairly effective at keeping secrets secret: so it makes sense to shop online, using a system that's run by people who have keeping credit card data secure as a top priority.

I don't think it makes sense to put your fancy photos on a network that's designed to help others find girlie pictures, not keep them under wraps. I think a lesson of the latest MySpace foulup is: Don't put photos or facts on a social networking site, even in a 'private' section, unless you're comfortable with everyone on the Web seeing them.

To be fair, quite a few people with MySpace accounts don't get their house trashed, and aren't raped, every day. On the other hand, MySpace seems to have more than its share of trouble.

Part of it is size: MySpace has a huge number of members, and with that many people, there will be trouble.

Part of MySpace's problems, I think, is how MySpace manages itself. I have an account there, which I haven't used for months. There are attractions there, but it's not worth wading through the gauntlet of overblown virtual b-girls.

It's not just that they give the place the ambiance of a sleazy singles bar. Whoever set the 'hi sailor' system up didn't bother to make sure that the limited number of photos and names matched each other consistently. That's sloppy.

More about MySpace on this blog:

• "More Bad News For (and About) MySpace"
  (June 1, 2008)
• "Strictly for People Who Can't Stand MySpace"
  (March 5, 2008)
• "Don't Read This if You Love MySpace And the Spacerettes"
  (January 24, 2008)
• "Kiddie Porn on MySpace: A Change of Pace From the Over-Blown Hotties"
  (January 17, 2008)
• "25 Worst Websites: Don't Get On This List"
  (August 29, 2007)