Facebook recently revealed their new privacy settings for its 350 million users, which went live December 9th, 2009. The social networking site revamped their highly criticized settings, which were previously confusing and unclear. Facebook responded to those privacy criticisms by making these changes, but unfortunately, many of the so-called improvements to privacy have opened the door for different, and in some cases, more serious privacy problems for its users.
The changes were intended to simplify Facebook’s frustratingly complex privacy settings and give the user more control over what they choose to share, and with whom. Many feel, however, the changes have done the exact opposite.
On the bright side, Facebook’s revamp caused every single user to have to choose their own settings, where as before, when an account was set up, many just adopted the default settings because they didn’t know any better. Facebook also added a feature that gives users the ability to define the privacy of their Facebook content on a per-post basis, where as before it was all or nothing. If you want to only share a certain group of pictures, or certain posts, with certain people, users now have the ability to do that. In addition, Facebook eliminated regional networks, which would lead people to sometimes unknowingly share their Facebook profile with an entire city or country.
However, there are quite a few of the changes that have many people up in arms, and you need to be aware of it your child has Facebook.
When it comes to controlling who gets to see personal information such as your list of friends, your name, profile picture, current city, gender, networks, and the pages that you are a “fan” of — this information, under the new rules, is “publicly available information” or “PAI.” Before, users could restrict who had access to much of that information. Now, however, the privacy options to hide these have been eliminated.
Facebook’s new changes are obviously intended to get people to open up even more of their Facebook data to the public. Facebook is one of the biggest social networking sites, but it is still a start up company. Facebook defaults the new privacy settings to “everyone” which opens your information up to everyone on the internet.
The way Facebook makes its recommendations has a huge impact on the company’s growth. Most people don’t share their content using the ‘everyone’ option that was introduced last summer. Facebook pushes users to use the ‘everyone’ settings, so it could have a better stream of content to go against Twitter with real-time searches. Facebook, however, has always been known for the private nature of the site, a way of connecting and sharing information with people you choose to be friends with, so the push for public information could backfire.
I know this is all mumbo jumbo, especially if you yourself do not have a Facebook, but chances are, you child does, so here is what you need to know:
Your child’s profile picture, name, gender, and city are public to anyone in the internet. Encourage your child to use a picture that does not give any more information about them (school sweatshirt, street signs, etc.) or better yet, have them use a picture that doesn’t show much, or any of their face, or show Facebook your displeasure with these.
The “everyone” default settings open all information to the entire world. When your child selects their new settings, which they were probably prompted to do the next time they signed into their account after December 9, all the settings were changed to “everyone.” Most kids probably just hit ok, and went on, but this opens up all their information to anyone who wants to see it. Ask your child to show you their account, and click on “privacy settings.” Change these to “Only Friends” so that only friends your child has accepted can see their information. (PAI will still be available to everyone.)
Your Information is still available to third party applications, search engines, Internet users and others, without the user’s knowledge or consent, even if the user has not connected with any of the sites. Make sure your child has not posted their phone number, address, or any other sensitive information, even in postings between friends.
Sit down with your child and make sure they aren’t unwittingly giving away any information that can put them in danger. The internet is a big place, and while your child may seem to know more about it than you, it doesn’t mean they are taking, or even aware of, the necessary precautions to keep themselves safe.
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