Grappling with privacy issues, Facebook gives users greater control over the data they share on their profiles

Popular social-networking site Facebook is implementing a comprehensive range of new privacy measures, which will give users greater control over the data they share on their profiles. Whenever a member sends/confirms a friend request, they will get the option to ‘assign privacy’ settings to that particular friend. It means that data, such as photo albums, contact details, etc. could remain hidden from everyone - except a close circle of friends. The changes also include the introduction of a new ‘Friend of Friends’ category that lets users make a decision what data is visible to users they’re connected to - via a mutual friend. “We wished to make our privacy page simpler to use and offer users more effective tools for managing how they share information with their online friends,” declared the firm.

Privacy issues have remained a major concern for the networking site in recent months. Last year, it introduced a word-of-mouth advertising platform termed Beacon that alerted users to the sites their friends had happened to visit, and even what things they had bought. It led to charges that the networking major was invading users’ privacy.

“We just screwed up With Beacon,” conceded Facebook’s vice president of product management, Matt Cohler, adding. “We rushed it out the door.” The networking giant, it appears, is taking measures to rectify the situation.

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