If you’re one of the 500 million plus users on Facebook you can’t be blamed for being confused about the privacy rules,
The problem is, the privacy rules just kept on changing. Over the past six months, Facebook made a number of alterations to its privacy controls leaving you with 50 buttons and 170 choices about your personal data.
This week, Facebook bowed to public pressure and has
- simplified its privacy settings, creating one single page where you can control the visibility of your information.
- allowed you to block outside software developers from accessing your personal information.
Reclaim your Privacy
This is the magic button to check your privacy settings on Facebook.
Facebook Game Players
You may not wish your personal details to be freely available to advertisers, phone sales and marketing consultants but if you play those games there’s not much you can do about it,
However – to make sure companies aren’t viewing your details, you’ll have to give up your small army of farm animals and delete those smoochies and “Which Simpsons Character Are You?” application from your profile.
Here’s a concise guide from lifehacker on how to use the Facebook Privacy Controls.
Manage your online presence
If you have things in your past you don’t want made public, then there are real dangers in social networking. Friends, family and associates may reveal information or opinions that you would rather have kept private.
As the lines between private and public blur, you must actively monitor your online reputation.
Exercise your own spin control by deleting unwanted comments or removing your name from photos.
You control who can see the photos and videos you’re tagged in which appear on your profile. Keep in mind, the owner of a photo can still share that photo with people you’re not friends with, so remove the tag from the photo or video if you don’t want that to happen.
But we’re often our own worst enemy in keeping personal data under wraps. The information we consciously or unconsciously disclose – by posting comments, rating stories, joining fan pages or connecting to certain friends – amount to digital footprints that advertisers, employers, landlords and law enforcement can, and have, used for very different reasons.
Don’t forget to keep your birthdate and private address just that – private. The best way to keep them private is not to enter them at all.
