Facebook Will Change the privacy options on Facebook

After experiencing pressure from various parties, eventually Facebook privacy options intended to simplify the user. In this interview with Kojo Nnamdi Show, public radio, Facebook’s chief of Public Policy, Tim Sparapani, said that his company was working on simplification of privacy options, such as what is demanded by many users so far.

“We heard from users that privacy option that we make today are too complex. I think we’ll pass them,” said Sparapani as quoted from the Wired site. “We will provide the option for users who want the privacy. I think we’ll be able to see it in the next few weeks,” said Sparapani.

Lately, Facebook was accused of restricting their users to have full control over their personal data in the most popular social networking site that. Facebook privacy statement grown increasingly complicated. In fact, now Facebook has a privacy statement that is longer than the United States Constitution. To truly be able to control the privacy of Facebook users have to perform 50 times with 170 privacy setting options offered.

To adjust the image alone, each with a photo album in Facebook should be arranged one by one whether to be published to everyone, only to friends, or to certain people only. Imagine if someone has hundreds of photos or dozens of album that should be checked one by one. Facebook’s privacy policy changes introduced since the end of December 2009 it made a lot of users do not really understand or care about their privacy.

Recent research from Consumer Reports said, 23 percent of Facebook users do not know the Facebook privacy controls offered, or claimed to not want used. but, when it also changed the Facebook privacy settings previously set by default as’ private ‘, becomes the default as’ public ‘. Therefore, a new Facebook user profile, will automatically be seen by everyone. Even with the new Open Graph API, Facebook distribute Facebook user information to third-party service sites such as Yelp, Microsoft Docs.com, and Pandora.

As quoted by The New York Times, analysts suspect Facebook is looking for a gap to seek profits from the advertisers. Therefore, more information from users that are displayed on their Facebook, Facebook will be more able to avoid a first ads that are relevant to the content information.

Four U.S. senators want Facebook to make it easier for its more than 400 million users to protect their privacy as the website develops new outlets to share personal information

SAN FRANCISCO Four U.S. senators want Facebook to make it easier for its more than 400 million users to protect their privacy as the website develops new outlets to share personal information.The call for simpler privacy controls came in a letter that the senators plan to send Tuesday to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The Associated Press obtained a draft of the letter signed by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo; Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska; and Sen. Al Franken, D.-Minn.It marks the second time in the past three days that Schumer has expressed his misgivings about a series of changes that Facebook announced last week. The new features are designed to unlock more of the data that the online hangout has accumulated about people during its six-year history.

Schumer sent a letter Sunday to the Federal Trade Commission calling for regulators to draw up clearer privacy guidelines for Facebook and other Internet social networks to follow.The political pressure threatens to deter Facebook’s efforts to put its stamp on more websites, a goal that could yield more moneymaking opportunities for the privately held company.

Facebook’s expansion “raises new concerns for users who want to maintain control over their information,” the senators wrote in their preliminary draft.In a statement late Monday, Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said the company wants to meet with Schumer to explain its commitment to privacy.

“We’ve developed powerful tools to give our users control over what information they want to share, when they want to share it and with whom,” Noyes said.Among other things, Facebook is plugging into other websites so people can communicate their interests with their online entourages. Facebook also tweaked its own website to create more pages where people’s biographical information could be exposed to a wider audience.

Before personal information can be shared with other websites, the senators want Facebook to seek users’ explicit consent, a process known as “opting in.” Facebook currently can share some personal information with websites unless individual users opt out by telling the company they don’t want those details to be passed along.The senators also object to Facebook’s decision to allow other businesses store users’ data for more than 24 hours.

Zuckerberg, who turns 26 next month, says he just wants to build more online avenues for people to connect with their friends and family. Some of his previous efforts have been detoured by privacy concerns, most notably in 2007 when Facebook users revolted against notification tool, called Beacon, that broadcast their activities on dozens of websites.Facebook responded to that rebellion by giving people more control over Beacon before scrapping the program completely. (AP)