When Facebook decided to make profiles public, I cancelled my Facebook account. Yup, it was a personal decision, which you may or may not agree with. I don’t really care. What I did care about was the fact that I had only added those people to my Facebook account that I wanted to know that information. When they decided that people would have to “opt out” of sharing their data, I opted out of Facebook. Now I am glad I did.

A security lapse made it possible for unwelcome strangers to peruse personal photos posted on Facebook Inc.’s popular online hangout, circumventing a recent upgrade to the Web site’s privacy controls.

The Associated Press verified the loophole Monday after receiving a tip from a Byron Ng, a Vancouver, Canada computer technician. Ng began looking for security weaknesses last week after Facebook unveiled more ways for 67 million members to restrict access to their personal profiles.

But the added protections weren’t enough to prevent Ng from pulling up the most recent pictures posted by Facebook members and their friends, even if the privacy settings were set to restrict the audience to a select few.

Sure, it was only a temporary security “bug”, but that is one of the many reasons why I no longer have a Facebook or MySpace account. I am not paranoid sharing who I am with the world, and I am not scared of sharing some of my information. I just think I should have the right to decide what gets shared and what doesn’t.

When it comes to using the Internet, I prefer not to use exterior shutters to keep inquiring minds from seeing too much.

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