Privacy Issues Met- Facebook Simplifies Privacy Settings

Facebook is a unique social network

We’ve been talking about privacy issues online for some time, but most recently, conversation was sparked by Benn’s article, “Do we have a reasonable right to privacy online?” We received several calls since that story published with people wanting to opine or ask questions about how they can safeguard themselves in this era of “transparency” where everyone is supposed to behave humanly and “be themselves.”

This week, Facebook announced it is setting up a Safety Advisory Board to improve safety followed shortly by the announcement today that Facebook has rolled out new, simplified privacy settings.

Facebook is known to be a hotbed for identity theft, as many people have their information exposed to everyone including their home town, birth date including year (take the year off, folks), can probably figure out who your mom is and then her maiden name, your schools, etc. that allow them to answer standard security questions. But don’t be alarmed, you can (and should) set your privacy settings pretty high- we recommend only allowing people you’ve become friends with to see any information about you other than your name. We also recommend being careful in your selection of who you allow into your network and using common sense in not accepting friend requests from “Brittneey Spearzz” or “Hawt Dawg.”

Facebook has a long way to go to secure member data, but at least they are being proactive. If YOU were on the Facebook Safety Advisory Board, what would YOU recommend they change to make members more secure?