Facebook privacy alert: The new settings you need to know about

Dec 10, 2009 6:49 PM

Facebook Privacy Setting Online screen grab

Facebook users now have additional options regarding who gets to see their personal information online. Click on the image to get a closer look at Facebook's new privacy settings.

As announced, Facebook has changed its policy on privacy settings. Here’s what you need to know right now:

When you log onto Facebook for the first time since the changes were implemented (Dec. 9, 2009), you’ll see a screen that tells you changes have been made, and you’re asked to choose between Continue To The Next Step or Skip This Step.

I chose Skip this Step, and found that my old privacy settings were still in place. But to doubly ensure your privacy settings are what you want them to be, click Continue To The Next Step. Once you move to the next screen, you’ll see a long list of settings, such as About You, Family and Relationships, Photos and Videos, and more. Those have all been made accessible to Everyone unless you specifically choose to keep your old settings.

Choose your old settings, but then go a step further. Because Facebook has added lots of new controls over what information you share, you should go step by step through all the privacy settings. To do that, click on Settings at the top of your Facebook screen, then on Privacy Settings.

You should also know that some info you may have chosen to be private in the past will now be public. According to Facebook, that includes your profile picture, friends list, and current city, among other things. But you can keep public info from showing up in a search outside Facebook by changing your privacy settings.

You can also now change your privacy settings post by post. So if you want to hide status updates from certain people, you can click on the lock icon that now shows up next to the Share button. (This feature wasn’t implemented on my Facebook page yet; it’s possible Facebook is rolling out changes slowly.)

Not everyone is satisfied with Facebook’s privacy practices. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet advocacy group, says Facebook is playing even looser with sharing your information when it comes to apps like quizzes. That includes your name, profile picture, friends list, and more.

The ACLU of Northern California has a particularly useful resource for helping you understand Facebook’s privacy policies.