So we were at the AT&T store the other day looking at cell phones, playing around with all the phones on display along the wall. Now they are all fully functional phones, to really give you a good feel for how they operate. So being the immature one that I am, I pick up one of the phones and start texting and calling my wife, who is on the other side of the store. Hilarious, I tell you.
Anyway, I look further, and I start to poke around at the web access features on the phones. Turns out a lot of them have a Facebook app installed, and wouldn't you know it, on the first one I pick up, the phone is already logged in to someone's Facebook account.
The logged on user is a local high school kid, based on his profile info. I can see all his friends, what they're up to, and basically I had the power to post to his wall posing as him!
My mind raced with numerous clever, cruel, witty, or devastating things I could have posted... But I took the high road, maybe because my conscience got to me, or maybe because I thought about what I'd want someone else to do if it were my kid's profile... So his post looked something like this:
"Uh, I logged on to my Facebook at the AT&T Store and didn't log off, and now some stranger can see my entire life story..."
Share, and Logout.
Now we can debate about the amount of information to post online, what security settings to use, and so on; but I think it's pretty clear that Rule Number One should be: Do not log on to personal sites on a public machine, and leave it logged on when you leave. Really guys? This kind of stuff is why parents freak out about their kids being online...
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