Facebook have been in the new a great deal recently, facing criticism for changes made to their privacy settings. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO admitted in May that they had “missed the mark” and moved too quickly in implementing changes to their privacy settings. The initial criticism came back in December 2009 when Facebook introduced changes to users via a pop-up asking users to update their privacy settings. Unfortunately, many users failed to read the small print and consequently opened up their profiles to everyone. Zuckerberg announced in May that further changes would be made in response to concerns from users – there are three main areas of change

1. There will be one privacy control for all FB content. Users will be able to decide how their information is shared in a few small categories, rather than the 50 settings with 170 options that had previously existed (although it will still be possible to use these “granular” controls. Essentially, users will be able to allow just FB friends, friends of friends, or anyone on the internet to see  their information.

2. Less information will now be public by default. For example, it wasn’t possible to prevent anyone from seeing who you were friends with, but this can be hidden now.

3. Great concerns had been expressed about the access and information given to third party applications and games and Zuckerberg announced that it would now be possible to stop any third parties from accessing private information and personal data. From a child safety perspective, it is important to know that if a user accepts the recommended settings from Facebook, they will allow their photos, bio and status to be seen by anyone. 

Facebook’s privacy policy - http://www.facebook.com/policy.php

A useful website which allows users to scan their own Facebook profile and check how safe it actually is. http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/ This site is being constantly updated to reflect the changes.

Facebook have also just unveiled www.facebook.com/FBSafety which is an official page aimed at keeping users informed about all safety issues. It will sit alongside the new safety centre and provide useful information on all aspects of online safety. There are a number of useful videos as well as links to resources and other materials.