14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook is a huge online social networking directory, so it contains a lot of data that hackers would like to phish and now they're doing something to make malicious users' life easier.
They have a new project, through which they want to make the information public. What does that mean? Well, say your name is John Doe and you're a registered Facebook user, with a lot of info displayed on that site. If your profile is a public one and I search your name on Google, I will find all the info you've put on Facebook. If I were a hacker this would help me when thinking of identity theft.
Oh, but do not worry, the Facebook staff is not stupid. They're not putting people's data in danger just like that. Making your profile public is an option that you can now choose, they won't reveal your info unless you choose to, but most people will. Why? To be frank I don't know, but some people just like to find their names on the web and see that they are "famous" on Google. Also, this will make it a lot easier for you to find someone. But then again, if you choose to expose your data like that and something happens to you, it's not Facebook's fault, because they didn't make you do it, they just gave you the chance to!
In any case, if you are really so fond of making your profile public, but don't want potential hackers to gain access to some very important data of yours, then don't fill out the whole form - don't reveal your whole identity, be as brief as possible. It's one thing when hackers use all sort of malware to steal data and trick users, but to expose your info on a public profile and then have the guts to complain your ID was stolen is just plain old stupid! So please take care what boxes you check!