At least once a month I have to log into Facebook and un-tag pictures of myself. There is a segment of the Facebook population who feels that they are doing a public service by identifying every single person in every single photo they see. It never occurs to them that the people in the photos may not wish for complete strangers to be able to see what they look like. There are plenty of layers of privacy on Facebook that allow users to put as much or as little personal information out there as they like. Some people put their whole lives online– their phone numbers, their addresses, and whatever they’re doing right at the moment.

An unfortunate loophole in Facebook’s privacy structure allows others to tag a photo of you without giving you the ability to approve or reject the tag. Users are simply notified when someone has uploaded a identified you in a photo. Instead of having critical control over labeling personal images, we users just have to keep an eye out and see if the image identified as you is (a) really you, (b) really a photo you’d like to have online and (c) really a photo of you you’d like to have online and clearly identified for the world to see. MySpace, at least, offers the tagged user the option to reject being pointed out.

Privacy issues related to social networking sites are likely to remain controversial for some time. Before the Internet, social networking had to be done in person. Now, it’s done at the click of a button. Facebook allows users to de-tag photos of themselves, but it doesn’t change the fact that they now have identifying material linked to your picture. There is already enough concern over their sketchy and broad privacy policy. They can sell, use, or share any data — any data — that they collect. And that includes those racy spring break pictures your idiot drinking buddy decided to share with the world.

Before you tag, please think about it. People should only be allowed to identify themselves in photos unless they’re in a jailhouse lineup. Facebook may not understand this, but hopefully its users can. Unless a friend has explicitly told you that they are comfortable with you identifying them in images that their friends and friends of friends might be able to see, don’t point. It’s rude.