New Facebook Privacy Settings and You

Facebook Privacy Settings Updated - April 2010:

Most of you have probably heard Facebook did it again and by "it" I mean they made a change to their privacy options.

Last week, Facebook added new features that allow other websites access to some of your personal information to instantly personalize your experience. In other words, Facebook is sharing some of your information with other websites. Not to worry though, you have options.

As with other privacy features on Facebook, this feature is "on" by default and you have to go into your privacy settings to turn it "off" entirely or modify it to your comfort level. Either way, I recommend you take a minute to read this Mashable article with step-by-step instructions on disabling the Instant Personalization and then go into your Facebook profile and edit these options according to your preferences.

If you want to skip the article and immediately turn the Instant Personalization off - you can do so right now by going to your profile and clicking on “Account” in the upper-right corner of the your homepage. From there you should select “Privacy Settings” from the drops down list.You’ll see a list of 5 privacy settings pages - select “Applications and Websites.” At the bottom of this list you'll see “Instant Personalization” where you will click “Edit Setting." Click the check box to turn it "off."

Once this is complete Facebook will not share your personal information with other websites for the "Instant Personalization" experience again until you re-enable this feature. You can re-enable at any time by going back and re-checking the box. If you're not sure if you want to turn this new feature off, you can click on the “Learn More” where Facebook explains exactly how your privacy settings affect what information is shared about you.

But wait I'm not done...

You should also be aware that your friends can share your information with websites from their profiles even if you turn off the Instant Personalization feature. But again, you have options. Go back to the “Applications and Websites” and click “Edit Settings” by the “What your friends can share about you” option. Check and un-check boxes to specify what information your friends can share about you. If you un-check everything here, none of your information will be shared.

While you are taking a minute to update these new options in Facebook you may as well double check your other privacy settings too. If you need a review on how to do this you can read on...

Original Post - December 2009

If you are an existing Facebook user you should know by now that Facebook recently made changes to their privacy settings and unless you request to maintain your old settings you may be unknowingly over-sharing. It's one thing to mindlessly over-share but unknowingly over-sharing is never good.

The setting changes were intended to "simplify" Facebook's somewhat confusing privacy settings and give you more control of your information. I am not going to get into the debate on the intention of Facebook to share information. I'm just going to share my observations because most of Sodexo's Talent Acquisition Team is on Facebook and the last thing I want them to do is unknowingly over-share.

The way the new privacy settings are managed is a good thing because it's easier to find and navigate through the settings and it gives you the ability to customize privacy settings. So for example, you can specify if you want everyone on the internet to view your status updates or just your friends, or friends of friends or a custom combination. You can share some of your photo albums or all of your photo albums or some of them with some friends and others with everyone.

Are you following?

But it's not all peachy. The new privacy setting also make it so your name, profile picture, gender, current city, networks,and friend list (if you use them) are available to be viewed by "everyone" on Facebook and (correct me if I am wrong) you cannot change these settings at all right now. Oh yeah, and by default Facebook recommends that you set your status updates to share with everyone and by everyone I mean everyone on the internet.

Don't panic.

Really, there no need to delete your Facebook profile just because of a few changes. You can still control details like who can see your email and address and how you want people to contact you.

So what do you do?

If you haven't logged on to Facebook in a while you may want to today. Or if you have and you were welcomed by this screen (below) you may not want to skip over it.


(click on image to enlarge)

This screen leads you to the privacy setting tool that guides you through the new privacy settings and will "recommend" (and by recommend I mean preselected by default) the setting to share posted content to Facebook, such as status messages and wall posts, with everyone on the internet. If you accept these recommendations, items that you probably used to only share with people in your network or to your extended network will be visible to everyone on the internet. And remember by "everyone" I mean everyone on the internet.

Still no need for panic. Remember, you are in control.

Personally, I walked through the privacy setting tool and opted to share some of the information on my Facebook page with everyone, and other information with only my friends. friends of friends and network. What you decide to share is up to you. Ask yourself, "Would I be comfortable sharing this with my boss?" I've read that some people are recommending you bypass this screen all together but for me it was a good exercise.

After I used the provided tool, I went up to my "Privacy Settings" found under the "Settings" drop down and made sure my changes "took." You can do this by:

1. Go to the top of your screen and click on "Settings" first and then "Privacy Settings." You'll see this screen. (Note: if you do not see this screen go back up to the top place your cursor over the word "Settings" move it down to hover over "Privacy Settings" and CLICK)


(click on image to enlarge)

2. Choose to manage your "Profile Information" or green star #1 in the below screen shot. Once you get to that screen you'll see options for the information you share. What you decide to share is up to you. If you don't want your boss to see your upcoming New Year's Eve pictures then don't share them with everyone!


(click on image to enlarge)

3. You're not done yet. Go back to the "Privacy Settings" screen above and select "Contact Information" (green star #2). This is where you can let only your friends see your email address or phone numbers. Or... you can let everyone see it. And remember, by everyone I mean everyone on the internet.

4. Repeat step #3 because now you are going to control who can see your search result on Facebook and in search engines (green star #3). According to Facebook "there have been misleading rumors about Facebook indexing all of your information on Google." Facebook says this is not true. And in fact, they created public search listings a long time ago (2007) to allow people to search for your name and see a link to your Facebook profile. They will still only see a basic set of information or what ever you designate to be shared with everyone (and by everyone I mean everyone). I believe them.

As the admin for the Sodexo Careers Facebook page, I want people to find me in Google searches because I want past, present, and future Sodexo employees to connect with us through our Facebook page. So I have "allowed" (see screen shot below) search engines to access my publicly available information and any information I set to share with "everyone." And, just so you know, this does not include anything I've shared with just my friends or friends of friends.

(click on image to enlarge)

Remember, regardless of your privacy settings you should be mindful of your wall posts, status updates, photo uploads, and anything else you do on Facebook (or Twitter or Linkedin, etc). If you post a comment on a friend's wall (and you are sharing this information with your friends) this information will show up in the news feed of your friends. If you don't want other people "listening" to your conversation with a friend then send them a direct message that is only seen by you and the friend the message was intended for.

One last thing. Will you be my friend?