Open letter regarding member privacy and recent Facebook postings:
ObesityHelp is committed to our members’ privacy. Since our inception, we have endeavored to protect the sanctity of our members’ privacy. Over the years, we have been asked to sell and lease our database or grant unrestricted access to the same. We have continually refused all such request as we deem our membership to be our dearest obligation.
ObesityHelp conducts operations in a social network environment which means postings, content, blogs, and any other ancillary information sharing on our website message boards is 100% open and searchable by all major search engines. This means that posting on ObesityHelp requires members to be conscientious of their own levels of comfort when posting any information to the Internet. To support the anonymity of our members we instituted: the screen name process (pseudonyms instead of real names), customizable avatars (no photo required), private messaging (posting on message boards not required), and email privacy (your private email is never displayed by ObesityHelp); just to name a few. This means that anyone can protect their name and privacy simply by taking advantage of the privacy options already included in our site.
Recent linking campaign on Facebook
The linking process was implemented to support threads that the company deemed as universally appropriate and supportive to those that suffer from obesity. With that core support desire in mind, approximately (7) threads were linked to from Facebook. This was done over a period of 3 to 4 days.
Technical clarity
Unlike linking to something with a single unique record locator (URL) when a company site links to a threaded comment [such as ObesityHelp] the Facebook system ‘spiders’ (searches) the URL content for a photo, first few words within the content, and even attached names. This is not something that ObesityHelp initially considered to be at issue as search engines have had access to this information since our inception. However, many members felt the inclusion of their photo (avatar), screen name, and short blurb of the content was a privacy violation. Our intent was never to cause anyone’s privacy to be violated but our effort was to promote support for the individual threaded comments.
To alleviate the issue, ObesityHelp immediately ceased posting threads. At present, only content (articles, blogs, and educational material) is being linked from the company Facebook page.
Why do we feel linking is necessary at all? Support and education are not limited to a singular social network. ObesityHelp operates a Facebook page for the same reason that millions of other companies do; our members are there also.
Was a policy change implemented?
In short, no. The linking of content from various locations including newsletters, Facebook, and other sites has always been something that ObesityHelp has done. However, what made this particular posting different was the way that Facebook automatically grabbed information from the linking source (user generated content on ObesityHelp).
Unless manually removed or changed, the linking takes place with default information included: avatar or photo, link, and minor portions of the content. This was not something that ObesityHelp considered initially bad as the information is public via Google, Yahoo, etc. Once it was brought to our attention that some of the links might contain information that would be considered by some as ‘private’ we immediately ceased posting in this linking method. Please be assured that no policy change has taken place.
How will ObesityHelp handle manual linking on Facebook in the future?
In the future, should ObesityHelp plan to link to specific threads, the company has decided to remove any such identifying markers that would otherwise cause the link to be identified to any specific individual or group. The purpose of the Facebook linking is not to single-out any one specific poster but help promote a general open discussion of the topic(s) at hand.
Sincerely,
ObesityHelp Inc.
Member Services Department
