After Firestorm of Criticism, New Facebook Privacy Policy Is Unveiled
After a firestorm of criticism by individuals and regulators, the CEO of Facebook today announced new privacy settings that will make it easier for users of the social networking website to restrict access to personal information, if they wish, to those they know well.
In a Facebook blog post, Mark Zuckerberg details the changes, which will be forthcoming “over the next few weeks.”
While the new settings do make it less complex for users to protect their privacy—the number of settings that must now be tweaked for ultimate privacy is down to about 15 from 50, for instance—it remains to be seen whether the new approach satisfies critics, reports CNET News.
At the center of the issue, tension remains between the opt-out approach Facebook has followed, which requires users to take action to protect their personal information, and the opt-in approach preferred by many consumer advocates, which would require users to affirmatively agree that information could be shared.
The changes announced today follow criticism over what Facebook described as an accidental release of data to advertisers (and a similar firestorm over Google’s admitted gathering of personal information from unsecured Wi-Fi accounts), as well as concerns expressed by consumers and regulators in numerous countries.
Last month, for example, the Electronic Privacy Information Center complained to the Federal Trade Commission and Congress, contending that Facebook is violating consumer protection law and its own stated policies in the way it handles privacy issues. A post on the Law & Disorder blog of Ars Technica details EPIC’s concerns.
A Wall Street Journal article last week discussed the personal data being sent to advertisers by Facebook and other social networking sites.
A question-and-answer format BBC News article provides a detailed account of the issues that helped spark the change and the “open” social networking options now being explored by Facebook rivals.
A Lifehacker post discusses Facebook users’ specific privacy options.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Know Your Facebook Friends: Fake-Account Fraud Is on the Rise”
Bits (New York Times): “Live Blogging Facebook’s Privacy Announcement”
New York Times: “Tell-All Generation Learns to Keep Things Offline”
PC World: “Facebook’s Privacy Fixes Can’t Cure Stupid”
