[Techtalk] werid status of msgs, maybe from remote access tech support-- help?

[Akkana Peck]

Malmrose writes:
> * I send a message (private message) to a friend on FB.
> 
> * The message is marked "Seen" within a few minutes, but my friend's status
> is "Active 17 hours ago," or someother <24 number of hours. (This friend
> lives in a very remote location and checks email only once a day.)
> 
> My guess is that perhaps someone is accessing my friend's FB account
> without logging in as the account owner.
> 
> I can't think of any other scenario in which this could occur.

A lot of people leave their computers on all the time, and probably
have a browser tab actively logged in to Facebook; or they have a
Facebook app on their phone or other device that's constantly
checking. Wouldn't that mark a message as Seen, even if the user
wasn't actively looking at the app?

> The messages often have sensitive content. If someone is accessing the
> account remotely, I need to be far more careful! FB is currently my own way

Hate to be negative, but personally I'd be leery of entering any
sensitive content on Facebook, whether it was marked private or not.
You never know when they might decide to use info from private
messages in some way, or how good their data security is even if
they intend to keep the private stuff private. And they'll keep it
all forever -- you have no way to make sure something is deleted. I
know it's frustrating when there's a person who communicates only
through Facebook, and there are trade-offs you might choose to make,
but do be aware of the risks.

        ...Akkana