The IT Nerd

Rumors are swirling around the Internet that Facebook is going to announce an e-mail service on Monday:

Facebook already offers messaging services among its users. But the new program would offer @facebook.com Web addresses to its half-billion-strong user base and thus enable members to communicate externally as well, the reports say.

Seeing as a ton of people see Facebook as the Internet, it’s clearly an attempt to by Facebook to lock in their users to their service. I guess that means Google with Gmail, or Microsoft with Hotmail should be concerned. But what is of more concern is the fact that Facebook has a horrific reputation when it comes to privacy. They’ve been sued in Canada, they’ve been caught selling info to marketers, and they’ve been investigated by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. There’s no guarantee that this e-mail service won’t be equally as problematic. So perhaps potential users of whatever they announce on Monday should read the privacy policy carefully. Or better yet, avoid the service all together. It’s truly not worth it.

This entry was posted on November 14, 2010 at 9:44 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Facebook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.