No, facebook, I do NOT want to out myself!!

[Sophie_C]

Ok, so has anyone experienced this? In the past, they sort of just 'encouraged' people to do it, but Facebook is now demanding I confirm my own account with a phone number or government issued ID, when OBVIOUSLY I have a separate 'real' account for the side the rest of world knows about.

I take it I have no choice but to dump my account and make a new one? This is incredibly annoying!:

:Angry3::Angry3::Angry3::Angry3::Angry3::Angry3:

[HannahF6]

Actually, yes this has happened and it didn't out me at all. All that happens is they send a message to your cell phone with a verification code which you copy down and then use to verify your identity. It happened to me. I have a cell phone that nobody else uses, I got the message, entered the code and then deleted the text message from my cellphone. Not that it mattered anyway, I could always have claimed that it was to verify my regular FaceBook account.

It was not problem. Hannah

[Karren H]

Hasn't happened to me....

[Kaitlyn Michele]

welcome to the world of free stuff..if you don't want to do it, then cancel it.

i don't know for sure, but i do believe all they do is text you a message...i'm not sure if you can open multiple accounts to the same number though..

[PetiteDuality]

I recently read that they discovered that a high percentage of facebook's profiles don't belong to real people or are duplicated. For example, somebody has one professional profile and another for personal use. This has affected facebook's value in the stock market. I guess this is the reason they are doing this move.

[HannahF6]

Petite wrote "I recently read that they discovered that a high percentage of facebook's profiles don't belong to real people", I guess that could be the reason. In any case, it is happening, has happened to me, and it really wasn't a problem. I just received the code on my cell phone, entered it, and then they knew I was a real person.

Hannah

[Sara Jessica]

Yes, they probably have a very simple algorithm installed which will match up your TG profile with your regular one. Then it's off to some offshore country for verification and once that's done, you'll be starring in the annual Facebook Christmas party slide show!!!

[StaceyJane]

I used to be on the cutting edge of technology but today I don't even have a cell phone so I just skip that part.

[TGMarla]

We are fast moving past the age of anonymity, where all we do is under some kind of surveillance. Let the lawsuits begin!

[Krististeph]

Yes, many employers are scanning for their applicant's facebook and other social accounts...
Can't wait until one asks me. i don't facebook, and other stuff i do is my own business. If they have any problem with it, I'll probably rip my resume out of their hands, and bill them for time wasted at $60 an hour.

What the hell ever happened to being able to conduct a reasonable interview? All these current kids in HR positions are quasi-competent idiots, no wonder our country's industries cannot get their heads out of their <insert favorite orifice here>.

I agree with your view of why this is happening- very astute. and very much the reason I lay back from stuff like this. Now, everybody's social network (and live) are being driven and steered by stock market value. Sorry, my life, as pathetic as it may be, is worth more than that.



I recently read that they discovered that a high percentage of facebook's profiles don't belong to real people or are duplicated. For example, somebody has one professional profile and another for personal use. This has affected facebook's value in the stock market. I guess this is the reason they are doing this move.

[Cheryl T]

Haven't heard of that before. Makes me leery of setting up my own account. I hate giving details to some "entity".

[kimdl93]

I have no interest sharing my personal life as a revenue stream for Mark Zuckerberg. I just hope Jeff Bezos at Amazon uses my shopping information discretely!

[DCChris]

It isn't too expensive to buy a cheap throw away phone (pay cash) and buy minutes with a pay as you go card (pay cash), then register it if required through an anonymous e-mail account (and if you're really concerned do this away from your own ISP). This way you have a pretty improved chance of staying anonymous.

[Cristi]

If I got this message, I think I'd abandon the account.

The primary purpose of facebook is to collect data, make it into something valuable to advertisers, then sell it. So if I give them a phone number to verify my 'Cristi' account all they have to do is combine that profile with the name on the cell phone account, say 'John Smith', then provide all that information to anybody who wants to buy it.

This is not a 'conspiracy theory'. The entire business plan of Facebook is based upon collecting as much info as possible and selling it to the highest bidder. If they CAN match your account to a 'real' name, address, phone number there is no doubt at all that that information is now for sale.

My concern right now is that if I get that security check message, can I still get in at least once to delete posts/photos etc, or am I instantly locked out until I verify?

[jessica renee]

I don't remember that step when I set up my facebook account a couple years ago. Of course, it wouldn't have been a big deal because I don't have a female facebook profile. I don't want to take the risk of having it linked back to the "male" me, the one who has to have a job and such.

[karanne]

I don't have an account with facebook, twitter, or any other 'social media' business. I see no need to - I am way past the brain-dead AOL stage of the 'net.

[RADER]

I have an account on face book, but not twitter or any thing else.
The whole world can see what you are saying. I like to keep things
under wraps myself
Rader

[judith96]

What I do for those types of verifications is to use a Google Voice account for the text message. That way the number doesn't match up with my real phone number. It can always be changed later, so it's more-or-less anonymous.

[Sophie_C]

Judy, but isn't a google voice account attached to a credit card? I *truly* like keeping my closet like fort knox!

[JessHaust]

Actually if you google it you will see many references to it being a scam.

[Veronica27]

There are also many google references to this being a facebook policy. A site called "DSL service providers" lists 10 reasons for this policy which can be found at:

http://www.dslserviceproviders.org/blog/10-reasons-facebook-wants-to-verify-your-identity/

I know of a number of people who for various reasons have more than one facebook account. It may be that they wish to keep their personal life separate from their professional life, or their interest in certain hobbies separate from family, work or other connections. In some cases, they are heavily involved in gaming apps, which are not shared by many of their other contacts. Their primary reason for keeping various aspects of their life exclusive is for streamlining their pages, avoiding clutter, and personal privacy.

Crossdressers have a very valid reason for wishing that aspect of their lives to be private, and if facebook is unwilling to accept this fact, then they should be avoided by this community. It is their right to have such a policy, likely encouraged by Government watchdogs, and it is our right to tell them what they can do with their policy.

Veronica

[~Joanne~]

If I got this message, I think I'd abandon the account.

The primary purpose of facebook is to collect data, make it into something valuable to advertisers, then sell it. So if I give them a phone number to verify my 'Cristi' account all they have to do is combine that profile with the name on the cell phone account, say 'John Smith', then provide all that information to anybody who wants to buy it.

This is not a 'conspiracy theory'. The entire business plan of Facebook is based upon collecting as much info as possible and selling it to the highest bidder. If they CAN match your account to a 'real' name, address, phone number there is no doubt at all that that information is now for sale.

My concern right now is that if I get that security check message, can I still get in at least once to delete posts/photos etc, or am I instantly locked out until I verify?

I agree. All they do is collect data to sell to whomever for whatever reasons.. I have never made one for my femme side and don't plan to because of all the data mining they do. Even my real account, has a fake name. I'm not for sale ;)

[Chloe Renee]

If you are truly worried get a prepaid phone and set up a google voice account. I have been ignoring that message for months.

[Stephanie47]

I have no time for social media accounts. My computer time is spent here and bidding on slips. bra, panties and dresses on eBay.

[Mary M]

that doesn't look like the same facebook message i got. the message i got asked if i wanted to provide a phone number in case i couldn't access my account so they could send a new password to my phone as an optional way to log back in. but that was just an option and the message allowed me to not opt for that option. so i selected not to provide it and continued facebooking without giving any personal info. my email address dedicated to mary is the only info they have that i know about

[TheresaLynn]

welcome to the world of free stuff..if you don't want to do it, then cancel it.

i don't know for sure, but i do believe all they do is text you a message...i'm not sure if you can open multiple accounts to the same number though..

I doub't you can. It's been awhile, but I did actually read their TOS. You can't have two accounts. FB will delete you if they find out. Be careful.

[Chiana]

I have a facebook account and I have not received anything like this.

[girltoy]

When I set up my 2nd account, it asked me for a cell number but ONLY because I was trying to set up a specific page name (facebook.com/specificname) as opposed to a generic page (facebook.com/randomgenericpage)

[Nicole Erin]

People who think they can "hide" their personal info on facebook need to remember that expression about having a fox guard the hen house. Thinking you are anonymous or private on facebook is one of the stupidest assumptions you could ever make.

BTW, is facebook REALLY so addictive to some people that they need more than one account? Get a life!

For years, they preached about not giving out RL info on the web. You could be stalked, ID theft, and all that crap. But NOW cause of facebook, people foolishly post EVERYTHING from their birth date, phone number, what they had for breakfast, where they are every moment...

But that is OK, go ahead and hide your deep personal life on facebook, no one will find out since their security settings are so good.

[girltoy]

BTW, is facebook REALLY so addictive to some people that they need more than one account? Get a life!


I don't think it's necessarily about the addictiveness of facebook, I think it's more that some people would like to create a network of friends for both their en femme side that they can keep separate from their everyday goings ons, family, and friends. It's not like the posters here are asking about creating multiple accounts to get ahead in farmville or something...

[Eryn]

I doub't you can. It's been awhile, but I did actually read their TOS. You can't have two accounts. FB will delete you if they find out. Be careful.

One person apparently can't have two accounts, but I don't see any reason why two different people can't share a phone number, particularly a landline. I do see this as a way that facebook can collect another valuable piece of data to sell to advertisers.

I don't do facebook at all. My wife loves it since she has relatives with whom she can converse.

[Rianna Humble]

I know of a number of people who for various reasons have more than one facebook account.

In that case they are breaking the terms and conditions of having a facebook account.

I registered one of my mobile accounts for this additional security check about 2 years ago and so far have not had a single spam message to that mobile phone. The conspiracy theorists on this thread may yet be proved right, but I won't hold my breath until they are.

Remember how much you pay for your facebook account, is this check such a high price to pay to confirm that you are not using it to spam?

[Sophie_C]

I doub't you can. It's been awhile, but I did actually read their TOS. You can't have two accounts. FB will delete you if they find out. Be careful.

Fair enough, but given they have no "personality firewalls" to keep certain things comprehensively hidden, it's not possible to communicate using it while keeping your femme side private. IS there a way to handle this without violating their TOS?

[donnalee]

Why anyone would want to give out personal information just because a for-profit entity asks for (or even demands) it just astonishes me. Are there that many totally stupid people out there (yeah, there are). Run (don't walk) away!
I know there is a lot of my personal information out there somewhere, but I refuse to cooperate with any attempts to gather it. I will not help in any way; to do so borders on insanity. I do not have any accounts on so called "social websites"; I don't participate in surveys, I will not be suckered by "free" stuff, I will only provide necessary info to business relationships which I initiate and even then will end the relationship if asked (or badgered) for info I think is unnecessary to it.
Although it's 1984 all over again these days, I will not make it easy for them, in any way that I can. What bothers me is that so many think the video cameras monitored by many different (and for the most part, unknown) agencies and fingerprinting their children, somehow makes them "safe".

"Those willing to sacrifice their freedom for the promise of a little temporary security deserve neither." - Benjamin Franklin

[kellylynn_31]

I had face book a few months and got tired of the internet courage some people developed. Deleted the account and have not missed it a bit. If some one wants to get a hold of me they have my phone number and email. If they don't have those then are not that close

[serinalynn]

I don't recall having to verify my info on Facebook. I reciently (3 week ago) went on Time Tracker at Facebook. I was one of the first to do that. now most of my 176 Facebook friends do it too.

[darla_g]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a scam

[Veronica27]

One person apparently can't have two accounts, but I don't see any reason why two different people can't share a phone number, particularly a landline. .

I don't think there is a problem with two people having an account while sharing one phone number. The difference, I believe, is that those two people are usually friends with each other, and or are linked with each other through their stated relationship status. The problem arises when one person is attempting to keep two accounts totally separate. Facebook probably have matching software programs that scan for the same IP address on two accounts with nothing else to link them as being separate individuals.

Veronica

[Veronica27]

In that case they are breaking the terms and conditions of having a facebook account.

I totally agree. I was merely pointing out that many people have valid reasons for wanting to keep different aspects of their life separate, just as Facebook has valid reasons for their one account policy. If we don't like their policy, we have lots of alternative ways of communicating with our friends. Nobody is forcing us to use facebook.

Veronica

[rocketscientist]

This is exactly why I am reluctant to create a FB account for my femme persona. As much as I'd like to share more with my sisters and join some cd related FB groups, I am not too sure my "secret identity" would not be compromised. As far as violating the TOS, go ahead if you wish, I've NEVER heard of anybody being deleted from FB. In fact, some say they won't even let you delete yourself!

[Eryn]

I registered one of my mobile accounts for this additional security check about 2 years ago and so far have not had a single spam message to that mobile phone. The conspiracy theorists on this thread may yet be proved right, but I won't hold my breath until they are.

I think the reason is deeper than a desire to spam phone calls to that cell phone. Cell spam is illegal in the US and is not really the goal here.

A facebook account can be created without linking it to any directly identifiable personal data. This information isn't worth much to advertisers. Link that account to something that an identifiable person pays for, namely their cell phone, and the data becomes much more valuable. They now have a physical address, credit information, etc. on that person. Link it with your cell phone's calling/messaging/email records that show linkages and personal information about that person and the data's value goes up even more.

[Rianna Humble]

This is exactly why I am reluctant to create a FB account for my femme persona. As much as I'd like to share more with my sisters and join some cd related FB groups, I am not too sure my "secret identity" would not be compromised. As far as violating the TOS, go ahead if you wish, I've NEVER heard of anybody being deleted from FB. In fact, some say they won't even let you delete yourself!

Someone from these forums who lives just 8 miles away from me had her account deleted and the group that she had started removed because they were not convinced that she was a genuine physical person.


A facebook account can be created without linking it to any directly identifiable personal data. This information isn't worth much to advertisers. Link that account to something that an identifiable person pays for, namely their cell phone, and the data becomes much more valuable. They now have a physical address, credit information, etc. on that person.

I am happy to give out the phone number I used. You won't be able to glean any personal data from that at all. The phone was purchased for cash, the SIM was a freebie, and I use cash to top it up. I did not have to provide Id when I bought the phone.

On the other hand, it did prove to Facebook that I am not a spambot setting up hundreds of fake accounts.

[Eryn]

I am happy to give out the phone number I used. You won't be able to glean any personal data from that at all. The phone was purchased for cash, the SIM was a freebie, and I use cash to top it up. I did not have to provide Id when I bought the phone.

This may be true if you purchased the phone only to verify your facebook account and then disposed of it. If you call anyone else, you're creating more linkages that can be used to ID the phone owner. It may seem far-fetched at the moment, but with the biggest data miners getting into the phone business (Android is Google, after all) call data is readily accessable to them.

[NicoleScott]

I'm thinking about getting a Facebook account, as soon as I figure out how to set the time on my VCR.

[JeanneF]

I've refused to get a Facebook account for Lisa because of the lack of anonymity. FB does a great job of integrating itself into your search history, email history, etc, and I would be concerned about the risk of Lisa's profile somehow popping up in the "people you should know" windows on someone else's page that I do not want to know about my gender identity status.

I do not have any trans-friends on my FB friends, and yet I still occasionally will get a friend who I know from the girl side of me to pop up in that window. I can only assume that FB is accessing my email contacts and I exchange email with that person on my primary account occasionally. While I personally don't really have anything to lose if I was accidentally outed, it's really not something that I care to deal with at this point in my life.

[meganmartin]

Personally I had a facebook account for a brief period, heck i had to mention a few other social media sites geared for the trans community. They all became knew ways to gobble up your time and for people to ingnore you. Atleast this site is somewhat of a social media site but in my opinion it is more of a support and information site than a social site.

Ok that was my short rant i finally closed it because of the concerns many of you had. i had all my security settings set then 2-3 weeks they would reset to the default. For the most part it was a non issue but there is always that potential of you taging something or commenting and someone puts 2 and 2 together...so this is the only site i belong too. And if someone that knows me as a guy finds me here i can ask the question what where you doing on the site.

[Veronica27]

This isn't about facebook specifically, but it sort of ties into some of the concerns that have been expressed in this thread. I received it in a gag e-mail today, and it is both humorous and prophetic. Turn on your sound and click on the link below.

http://www.aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf

Veronica

[Nicole Erin]

This isn't about facebook specifically, but it sort of ties into some of the concerns that have been expressed in this thread. I received it in a gag e-mail today, and it is both humorous and prophetic.

Nothing funny about that. I mean it is really kind of scary.

One thing that has also been stated is Facebook might be a precurser to the mark of the beast. Right now they are trying to get people conditioned to being totally controlled by some larger entity. Technology has not advanced to the point where they can read your every thought, so they at least try to coax it out of you with crap like FB. People will do anything to be popular.

Your soul is kind of synonymous to your identity. they say if you take the mark, you will lose your soul (identity?)

When I first head of this "Mark", I always thought, "who would be stupid enough to take something like that" but these days i realise many would probably gladly sell their souls just to get on something as mundane and pointless as facebook.

I am not saying FB is this "Mark" but is probably a solid training ground and experimental project for it.
BTW, What is the first name of that guy who owns it?

ANOTHER things -
Years ago I was watching some episode of some crazy show, this guy wanted to go out with this lady, she asked him to bring a credit card...
He gets there, she swiped it, and it printed out some sheet about his dating history. She spends the whole show ranking on him about his previous bad dates and times he cheated ETC...
So she declines him and he calls another lady who also asks if he can bring his credit card... Well that pretty much ended the episode.

I thought, "yeah right like you are gonna carry around something that has all your "dirty laundry" on it"
BUT alas, good ol facebook has taken care of that. People investigate others thru it. Not just the big guys like the CIA but just Joe and Jane average also. Pity people put dumb things on FB knowing good and well people can see it.

[catriona36]

Yes, many employers are scanning for their applicant's facebook and other social accounts...


yeah i never mention facebook at any interview and noone has ever asked me. i have no picture on it so they cant just assume its me. after all i worked with a guy one with the same first name and last name. had the same middle initial but the middle name was different.

we do have companies out here that all they do is scan fb. company contracts them to find what its employees are doing, and if they are saying anything bad about them... if they are bad mouthing them, the employer takes action..
face book can be a dangerous place. sure my normal me has pics of me, my car and my boat with rego numbers showing. however no one can see it that i dont want. the only ppl on my fb are real friends from the real world lol i never accept requests from ppl i have never met b4.

cats fb does not show the face, the boat or the car lol no info on cats fb can betraced to me :)

[girltoy]

ANOTHER things -
Years ago I was watching some episode of some crazy show, this guy wanted to go out with this lady, she asked him to bring a credit card...
He gets there, she swiped it, and it printed out some sheet about his dating history. She spends the whole show ranking on him about his previous bad dates and times he cheated ETC...
So she declines him and he calls another lady who also asks if he can bring his credit card... Well that pretty much ended the episode.


That's the film "Amazon Women On the Moon" ... that particular segment was Steve Guttenberg and Rosanna Arquette.

As to the rest of your post, I understand (and can, to a limited extent, agree) that some people view Facebook as this Orwellian monster that is going to give all of our secrets and thoughts away to the highest bidder or the government ... but comparing it to the Mark of the Beast seems ... unrelated. The original post was questioning if anyone had to deal with the security checks put in place by facebook, and people chimed in their experiences with facebook. It is apparent that you don't care for facebook (nor any other social media site), and I don't see how conspiracy theories tying a social media site to the book of revelations are relevant.

[Mikaela]

What I do for those types of verifications is to use a Google Voice account for the text message. That way the number doesn't match up with my real phone number. It can always be changed later, so it's more-or-less anonymous.

This won't always work since Google Voice does not support short form or email based SMS. Point of fact, it won't work with this Facebook validation, as I learned when I set up my female account.

[Nicole Erin]

That's the film "Amazon Women On the Moon" ... that particular segment was Steve Guttenberg and Rosanna Arquette.



Wow that was awesome! I found that again on youtube! thanks :D

[larry]

I stand by my decision to close my f/b account when all this started. Of course I just assume they still have all my data up until that point of closure.
At least I do not worry about someone demanding my f/b password.

[Sandy01s]

No Facebook, they have misrepresented the truth more than once. I will not have any part of it. They state that all is safe and that ain't so. Be very careful when they lock your info together they just drop the privacy part quickly.