Recently Facebook updated and adjusted their privacy settings. This was done at the same time they updated the home page.
Now, when you login to Facebook, you’ll see a new privacy page under your account settings where you can now choose to share any of the following with the world: your profile (with sub-settings for Basic Info, Personal Info, Education Info and Work Info), Status Updates, Links, Wall Posts, Photos and Videos.
So why would anyone bother making their profile or updates public? Well, for now, Facebook is spinning the changes as a way to make yourself more discoverable. In other words, when your old friends search for you they’ll be able to find out more about you than just a message saying "you must be friends with this person in order to see their profile."
Further as you maybe aware there have been many news articles lately commenting on the issues with Facebook and lack of privacy. They all have one core message, anything you put on the Internet is permanent, be careful. Your friend list often includes professional contacts as well, some of those photos or status updates may not be appropriate for that group. Teachers and students are another example of a relationship that shouldn’t have too much data sharing.
I recently ran across this blog posting concerning 10 Facebook Privacy Settings. I don’t generally like re-posting others work but this is a very good posting and I highly encourage everyone to review this page. The following topics are covered:
- Using Your Friend Lists
- Removing Yourself From Facebook Search Results
- Removing Yourself From Google
- Avoiding the Infamous Photo/Video Tag Mistake
- Protecting Your Albums
- Preventing Stories From Showing Up in Your Friends’ News Feeds
- Protecting Against Published Application Stories
- Making Your Contact Information Private
- Avoiding Embarrassing Wall Posts
- Keeping Your Friendships Private
I’ve recently gone through and implemented most of these suggestions, I highly recommend everyone reviewing and applying as you see fit.
