Facebook’s Unfriendly Privacy

Facebook recently changed its privacy settings to make many more things public - without their users' permission - and made it ridiculously difficult for an ordinary person to opt out of this system. That last part might have been unintentional, but the first part - making a whole lot more public - certainly wasn't. In this episode, we'll look back at the last few weeks - the action, the backlash, the response and perhaps even the fact that most people didn't know and didn't care about this story - and maybe they should!

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Background:

• Mark Zuckerberg about privacy
• This isn't the first time Facebook has generated controversy about privacy
• visualization of how Facebook has changed your privacy over time
• EFF: Facebook's Eroding Privacy Policy
  
• What's changed this time
  

The backlash:

• New York Times infographic showing the horrendous maze
• Top 10 Reasons you should quit Facebook
• 31st May is Quit Facebook Day
• European officials chastise Facebook privacy settings

The response:

• Facebook Prepping Changes to Privacy Policy
• Facebook rolls out new privacy changes
• A Guide to Facebook's New, Simpler Privacy Controls
• "Quit Facebook" day is a flop

What can you do?

• If you haven't visited your Facebook privacy settings recently - then it's probably time you did.
• If you have visited your Facebook privacy settings recently then it's still worth doing so again to see whether the new, simpler privacy settings are easier to use.
• Whatever you do, treat Facebook as a public, not a private, place.