Many users feel that Facebook isn’t doing enough with regard to educating them on their privacy settings. It appears that the social network is trying to do more in this field, as users who have the redesigned News Feed were prompted to review their privacy settings recently.
Even though Facebook’s privacy settings change often, a study by Carnegie Mellon University shows that more users are becoming better at keeping sensitive information off the social network. According to a study of more than 5,000 Facebook profiles, fewer users are making public information such as date of birth and political affiliation. However, confusion over Facebook’s privacy settings has led to an increase in posting of interests such as favorite movies, books, and music — as well as sharing to applications and advertisers.
Facebook last week quietly reintroduced its tag suggest feature, which uses facial-recognition technology to assist users in tagging their friends in photos. So, what can users do in order to avoid being tagged in photos that they do not wish to be tagged in?
Facebook’s recently introduced graph search feature rekindled a host of familiar privacy concerns, and the social network used a post in its Newsroom to remind users about privacy settings and options that are available to them.
Facebook users with questions for Chief Privacy Officer of Policy Erin Egan now have a forum for those questions, as the social network announced on its Facebook and Privacy page Sunday that it launched its Ask Our CPO series, in which Egan responds to users’ privacy-related queries.
Warnings about a Facebook application called My Birthday Calendar have gone viral on the social network, but it turns out that the app is no more or less harmful than many other Facebook apps.
Facebook is a great place for connecting with old friends and keeping in touch with family, but it can also be dangerous to both users and their computers. Oversharing, poor security settings, and rampant viruses can cause more problems than you might think. Staying safe on Facebook requires a little thought and a whole lot of self-control.
Facebook’s favorite launching ground for new features, New Zealand, maintained its hold on that title with Thursday’s launch of the social network’s recently announced changes to its privacy controls in the Pacific island nation.
Facebook has an extensive set of privacy controls, but many users simply don’t know how to access them. The site wants to change that. On Wednesday, Facebook announced that it is making it easier to control who sees your posts, such as introducing privacy shortcuts and clearer instructions when posting.
Although many current users may be a bit fuzzy on privacy controls, Facebook wants to make sure that new users know how they can control their profiles once they sign up. Starting Friday, those who create accounts on the social network will receive primers on security and how to manage their Facebook lives the way they want.
