Facebook Changes Privacy Controls

After months of controversy over how Facebook has handled its users' personal information, the social networking company’s chief executive officer on Wednesday announced changes that would make it easier for Facebook users to keep information on their account more private.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at a Wednesday press conference, according to a PC Magazine report, that as Facebook made changes over recent months in how users’ information was shared with the wider Internet or with people the user knew personally, “the settings have gotten complex, and it is becoming hard for people to use them and to effectively control their information.”

Changes Zuckerberg announced Wednesday mean that Facebook will provide users one place on the site for them to select their privacy settings, that it will make less information publicly available by default, and that it will allow users to opt-out of third-party applications associated with Facebook.

Zuckerberg said changes to these settings will apply retroactively to existing content on a user’s Facebook page, as well as to future products the company might roll out.

Facebook users, Internet privacy advocates and even members of Congress had become increasingly critical of Facebook in recent months as it made changes to its privacy settings, which it said were intended to give users more control over their information. Some of Facebook's moves actually made some users’ information more open by default — and most considered it complicated and confusing to find and use Facebook’s privacy controls.

Then, more recently, Facebook’s “Instant Personalization” program began granting third-party Web sites such as Pandora and Yelp access to Facebook users' personal information. A class action lawsuit was recently filed by Providence, R.I., lawyer Peter Wasylyk against Facebook on that issue, arguing that Facebook’s actions violated the federal Stored Communications Act, according to a Courthouse News Service report.

The backlash against Facebook’s recent moves had prompted some to encourage people to ditch Facebook entirely. But Zuckerberg said Wednesday that there have been no “statistically significant, meaningful changes" to the service's membership numbers. Facebook has more than 400 million users.

“On a personal note, I just turned 26 years old a few days ago,” Zuckerberg wrote on the company’s blog in his post announcing the changes. “I started Facebook when I was 19 and it's amazing to look back at how it has evolved. There have been a lot of changes over the years as we've continued to innovate, and I appreciate that you have all stuck with us. Each time we make a change we try to learn from past lessons, and each time we make new mistakes too. We are far from perfect, but we always try our hardest to build the best service for you and for the world. So I just want to say thanks.”