Yet Another Post About Facebook Privacy

There has been so many posts about Facebook Privacy on the Web over the past few weeks. This post is just a summary of the few great ones that I have seen, and is for a quick presentation at SBTUG. So rather than go through a heap of information in the presentation, I will just refer to the links in this post.

I have tried to find links that talk about the new Facebook privacy issues in simple to understand terms, not developer-speak. So I would encourage you to read some of the links, have a look at your Facebook settings, and most importantly talk to all your non-geek friends, your Mum, your Kids, your Neighbours etc – all those people who probably have no clue about what happens when they post something on Facebook, or click a Like button on a website.

• Why is Facebook Privacy now an issue? Have a look at the diagram on this site to see at a glance why this is something to be concerned about now: http://www.allfacebook.com/2010/05/infographic-the-history-of-facebooks-default-privacy-settings (ht @pricillascala) . And basically the above information as text: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/04/facebook-timeline/ (ht @hollingsworth).
• Why is it so difficult to know how to change your settings? A really good overview of why the Facebook settings are so difficult for mere mortals to understand: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/12/business/facebook-privacy.html (ht @trib).
• Where do my wall posts show up? Did you know that your wall posts with specific key words show up on other pages? http://searchengineland.com/facebooks-posts-by-everyone-feature-do-people-realize-theyre-sharing-to-the-world-41525
• What happens when you click the Like button on a website? All your “Like’s” are now public by default. This is also true when you click on a Like button from another website. Also by clicking on the Like, the website may send you updates to your profile. There is no option to “Like” but not have them send updates if they want to. More info here (but it is a little hard to understand).
• How to fix your profile in 2 mins – Video. Not quite detailed enough for my liking, but it is a start – if you at least do this, you will be aware of some of the settings: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/13/facebook-privacy-settings_n_575732.html (ht @evilsue).
• 5 essential Facebook Privacy Tips. This link is from Mashable and has some good tips: http://mashable.com/2010/05/18/facebook-privacy-tips/
• Don’t let advertisers use you to advertise for them: Go to Facebook -> Account Settings -> Facebook Adverts and select “No One” (ht @mpesce).

For a more in-depth look at the whole Facebook privacy issue, Time magazine has it as their cover story this week. I think the article is easy to read and not too techy.

For the more geeky amongst us there are a few more links you may want to have a look at:

• What Does Facebook Know About You? This link shows all the information about you that is publicly available: http://zesty.ca/facebook/ (ht @servantofchaos). There is also www.reclaimprivacy.org that will scan your settings for anything that is visible to the entire internet (ht @silkcharm).
• Wall Posts are now Public by default: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/12/facebook-privacy-update/
• Taking it to the extreme – a link to a quite involved how-to for locking down your facebook profile almost completely, including removing most of your friends an making a fan page for them – I think this is going a bit too far. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/lockdown-or-death-for-your-facebook-profile-an-advanced-user-guide-to-social-networking-privacy.
• How to opt out of Personalization – “if you opt out, your friends may still share public Facebook information about you to personalize their experience on these partner sites unless you block the application”: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/04/how-opt-out-facebook-s-instant-personalization (ht @trib).
• 10 New Privacy Settings – a good overview of all important privacy settings: http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/12/facebook-privacy-new/ (ht @trib).
• Deceiving users with the ‘Like’ button – I’m not sure about the complete accuracy of this but if it’s true – OUCH! http://arnab.org/blog/deceiving-users-facebook-button
• Top 10 Reasons to Quit Facebook – I’m not at that point yet – I still get value from Facebook, especially for events and keeping in touch with Family. I believe it is possible to use it without showing everything to the world: http://www.rocket.ly/home/2010/4/26/top-ten-reasons-you-should-quit-facebook.html