Facebook says it will make privacy settings easier

Have they finally noticed the hordes at the gate?

The All Facebook blog (not an official Facebook site) is reporting that Facebook’s Public Policy Director, Tim Sparapani has said the company will install privacy settings that are easier to understand and control in the next few weeks. (“Facebook Preparing To Release Simple Privacy Settings” )

The 800-pound gorilla of the social media world has been taking increasing heat recently about its sloppy attitude toward securing users personal information and privacy policy that seems to permit it to do nearly anything with users personal info..

Yesterday the Tech Herald ran a story about MySpace co-president Mike Jones announcing (Monday) simplified security settings that will be put in place on his company's site in the next few weeks.
“MySpace to simplify privacy controls for users with new changes”

“As things stand, the major levels of access are public, anyone under 18, and only friends. The change to MySpace’s privacy settings will center on “friends only”. If you currently use that setting for the majority of your account, then it will remain as is, and a single switch will change all the settings at the same time to whatever level you select. There will be no need to opt-in or opt-out of any of the settings,” Jones said.

On May 12, the New York Times ran a huge graphic that showed the complexity of Facebook’s 50 settings and 170 options that a user would need to digest in order to set up in order to control his or her privacy. (“Facebook Privacy: A Bewildering Tangle of Options”)

Funny how markets work.

Tom Kelchner