Facebook Revamps Privacy Controls
It will soon be easier for Facebook users to take control of their privacy, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg announced Wednesday.
The social network is gradually rolling out new privacy controls across the network, Zuckerburg said in a post to The Facebook Blog.
Zuckerburg described three main changes to the controls.
The first is a new, simple control that sets who can see the content users post, so that users can make changes "in a couple of clicks," Zuckerburg wrote, adding that the settings in that control would apply to settings in future products.
"So if you decide to share your content with friends only, then we will set future settings to friends only as well," Zuckerburg wrote. "This means you won't have to worry about new settings in the future."
Secondly, Zuckerburg announced a reduction in the amount of basic information that must be visible to everyone, and the outright elimination of the connections privacy model.
"Now we'll be giving you the ability to control who can see your friends and pages," Zuckerburg wrote. "These fields will no longer have to be public."
Zuckerburg noted the location of the privacy controls for basic information, and recommended that users make the settings open to everyone to make it easier for users to be found by other users.
Zuckerburg also announced controls that would turn off Facebook Platform, preventing information sharing with Facebook apps and websites, and instant personalization, which web developers use to add a Facebook social layer to their sites.
Zuckerburg alluded to some of the controversy over the privacy controls Facebook is replacing. "Each time we make a change we try to learn from past lessons, and each time we make new mistakes too," he wrote. "We are far from perfect, but we always try our hardest to build the best service for you and for the world."
The changes will be rolled out "over the next few weeks," Zuckerburg wrote.
http://www.maclife.com/article/news/facebook_revamps_privacy_controls
