Facebook Rolling Out New Privacy Settings

[Refugee 7]

Facebook on Wednesday started rolling out new privacy settings intended to give users more control over who can see their profiles.

The social networking site has been testing these changes with a limited group of U.S-based users since July, but is now rolling them out to all of its 350 million users.

When the update hits a user's account, they will be presented with a "transition tool" that requires members to review and update their privacy settings. There will be two options: preserve old settings or accept privacy recommendations from Facebook.

The recommendations will take "into account how users have shared that information previously and recognizing that users may consider some information more sensitive," Facebook said. If a user has never changed their privacy settings, Facebook's recommendations will be pre-selected.

Once updated, users will see a confirmation page that lets them review their settings, as well as a link to the full privacy settings page, which can be altered at any time.

After that, users will be able to utilize the site's new Publisher Privacy Control, which will let them select a privacy setting for every piece of information they share on Facebook directly from the publisher tool – from photos and status updates to links and wall posts. You might want to share you opinion of a movie you saw with everyone, but only show family photos or a phone number with a few specific friends, for example.

The changes also mean the end to regional networks. Since the inception of Facebook five years ago, members have had the option to join a regional network – the New York City network or Chicago network, for example. Back when Facebook was open only to college students, the idea of regional networks was to connect students with other students. But when the social networking site opened to the public in 2006, membership in these networks exploded. In some cases, a network encompassed an entire country, like India and China.

Now, regional networks will be replaced with four basic control settings: friends, friends of friends, everyone, and customized. However, if a user under 18 selects "everyone," only those people on their friends' list or in their school or work networks will be able to see their profile.

The changes do not affect Facebook's advertising program.

Facebook is also launching a new privacy center, a guide that will offer tips and information on Facebook's principles of user control and related features, as well as links to privacy-related material on and off the site.

New users will be encouraged to learn more about their privacy, and the first time someone uses the Publisher Privacy Control, they will see a message detailing who will see their post.

In October, Facebook unveiled an updated version of its privacy policy - changes that were made, in part, to appease Canadian privacy officials.

Months earlier, Facebook said it would beef up its privacy notifications and embark on a year-long overhaul of its developer platform after the Canadian privacy commission expressed concern about the social networking site's current policies.

[DCAHNM 0]

Thank goodness that you can keep your old settings! I was a little worried for a minute. I had everything the way I wanted it, too. (my mom and her side of the family (plus that former classmate that was getting on my nerves) couldn't see my status, etc.)... Too bad said people can now post to my wall. It's either that, or nobody could post to my wall. That was the only change I could see.

[Pawie 6]

If you have plenty of time and a lot to hide - this is excellent!

If you are a sane user - you don't need it!

[DCAHNM 0]

Since I had already had most of my privacy settings set up months ago, it didn't change much. After checking this out more, I don't think the aforementioned people can post on my wall, etc., but now they can see my list of friends, when they couldn't see before. This only sucks because my mom will drive me crazy about the people she kinda knows...

[Refugee 7]

Facebook's new privacy controls remain a work in progress a full 24 hours after release and months after they were announced. Responding to criticism over making its users' Friends Lists public, Facebook is rolling out a new option that allows users to protect their Friends List from viewing or searching.

When Facebook began rolling out its new privacy platform, users began noticing that their Friends List had become public and could not be hidden.

The list includes the identities of everyone the user has "Friended" and some users don't want the information made public.

Businesses and their users should exercise special caution because of the relationships--both business and personal--that may be revealed through a user's Friend list. These could be mined by competitors or in some cases used to develop competitive intelligence about a target company.

PC World, responding to reader concerns, has spent most of Thursday afternoon and into the evening talking to Facebook representatives, who released the following statement a short time ago:

"We have heard user concerns and we will soon enable people to hide their friend lists. Those who choose to hide their friend lists will not have their lists discoverable through search engines or viewable by other users," the company said in a prepared statement.

Readers had expressed concern that making Friends Lists public could allow businesses or repressive governments to misuse the information. They felt--with reason--that Facebook's new privacy controls made the information easier for third parties to misuse.

Here is Facebook's response:

"More importantly, we believe that Facebook, as demonstrated during the Iran elections and events in multiple other countries since our inception, plays a critical role in allowing people to communicate, organize and stand up against oppressive regimes and there is real value of connecting and sharing, which is what we're trying to facilitate."

Thank you for the flag waving, though talking to Facebook, or at least the people Facebook wants me to talk to, I am impressed that they do care and want to get things right--and are willing to change in midstream if necessary.

Facebook told me that it would still be theoretically possible for an application the user had approved for access to the Friend List to misuse the information, and this could, theoretically again, include some sort of rogue app or malware.

Not as clear is what access Facebook's new-found best friends, Google and Bing, might have to Friend Lists and what they might do with the information they receive. It is possible there is no risk here, but given Facebook's history of privacy flaps, there is reason to be concerned, too.

My take: I am not 100 percent clear on what Facebook is doing to protect users's Friend Lists. I know the information, in the wrong hands, could be very damaging to some users in both their personal and business lives. I believe Facebook has become sensitized to the issue and expect to see changes, perhaps beyond those announced late today.

The rollout of Facebook's new privacy options has, at a technical level, gone less than smoothly, taking more time than expected. There have also been changes made during the rollout that have added to the confusion.

Facebook users would be wise to revisit their privacy options over the next few days and make the changes they consider appropriate. Even if you have already made changes, it is important to check the options available as things remain fluid.

While I am concerned that changes announced in July and rolled out in December are still not right, Facebook probably deserves credit for responding quickly to unforeseen problems.

David Coursey has been writing about technology products and companies for more than 25 years. He tweets as @techinciter and may be contacted via his Web site.