[Macworld]

Post your comments for Facebook hit with class action over privacy changes here

[usefulmatt]

What is not generally known is that right after the big Facebook privacy change it WAS possible to totally remove the Friends box from your profile page. This was not done through privacy settings, but you'd have to view your own profile then click the pen icon at top right of Friends box, then select "hide friends box on profile".

Around mid January Facebook quietly removed this ability and even if you'd set the friends box to hidden, that decision on your part was voided and Facebook made all friends boxes visible. Now when you go to the same option it now only gives you the option to hide the friends box from non friends.

The forums are full of posts from people wanting to hide the box again however Facebook also changed their terms and conditions which now state that your friends list is public information and by using their service you agree this will be publically available.

This for me was the final straw and I terminated, sorry, "deactivated" my Facebook account.

Who you know is very personal information for a lot of people; in real life we choose which friends we introduce or speak about to others, and there are many good reasons for this. What is the point having the ability to create groups of friends and control what they can see, if they can all see each other?

So my first issue is the fact that there is now no way of hiding your friends list from anyone who can view your profile (along with "Pages - although Pages is far less personally sensitive), and the second issue, which has annoyed me the most, is how Facebook quietly removed this feature without any notice - even though it was a specific option that people had explicitly set.

[Haxzaw]

I think this is ridiculous. Facebook is free and voluntary. If someone can show they were harmed by this, then maybe, but otherwise feel free to cancel your account. The only people who will make out over this are the lawyers.

[vfx2k4]

Yeah I don't see the monetary loss. Then again Lawyers + California= Gold Rush.

[Hawaiian717]

The real problem was that the suggested defaults when they implemented the new fine-grained privacy controls suggested towards making things more public. This complaint is the result of the same mentality of people clicking the "Yes" box without thinking when they get the "Do you want to install malware?" dialog box.

[Eric72]

What Facebook failed to do was to inform it's users that that their privacy settings were going to default after the security changes. That they had to go back to the settings to turn privacy back on. Luckily I'm a stickler when it comes to online security, and the day they implemented the changes, I went to my security settings. That's when I realized that it had defaulted so that EVERYONE can see my profile, pics, and posts.

This fault primarily falls on FB, but those who are "online security illiterate" aren't completely absolved of fault either. Apart from that, and not having control over third-party apps having access to your personal info (which they really do need to address), the security settings implemented are pretty good. More control over who sees what info. But it still can be better.

[iggybird]

Haxzaw, on 17 February 2010 - 07:20 AM, said:

I think this is ridiculous. Facebook is free and voluntary. If someone can show they were harmed by this, then maybe, but otherwise feel free to cancel your account. The only people who will make out over this are the lawyers.

I couldn't agree more, except that making a product or service available at no cost to the public doesn't absolve the giver of responsibility. And showing harm in this case could be virtually impossible. A reasonable possibility of harm should prevent Facebook from taking these actions. But then, what can we expect from a business that grew out of an invasion of privacy

I don't get the mentality of folks who believe that only individual consumers and the government are required to be responsible while big businesses (and their management) can practically do whatever they want.

This post has been edited by iggybird: 17 February 2010 - 09:30 AM

[alansky]

Eric72, on 17 February 2010 - 08:31 AM, said:

Apart from that, and not having control over third-party apps having access to your personal info (which they really do need to address), the security settings implemented are pretty good.

That's a pretty big "but". It is extremely sleezy of Facebook to allow third-party apps to access members' personal information without consent under any circumstances.

[bousozoku]

Hawaiian717, on 17 February 2010 - 08:25 AM, said:

The real problem was that the suggested defaults when they implemented the new fine-grained privacy controls suggested towards making things more public. This complaint is the result of the same mentality of people clicking the "Yes" box without thinking when they get the "Do you want to install malware?" dialog box.

That's it. People want the easiest way to do things and not to be bothered with thinking. If people had to start thinking to use the computer, you know that computer usage would drop dramatically, probably to the levels they were prior to Windows 95. That wouldn't be a bad thing.

[Tipadoo]

I wanna have and eat my cake too! I am a user of facebook and my personal situation doesn't require me to hide all my friends. On the other hand, I don't want corporations, sleazy individuals, or the GOVERNMENT monitoring what I say or do with FB. So if there was a tidy little way to make that happen, then GREAT! To expect something like that though you'd have to be 3 sheets to the wind. After all, FB is a business, and you know what business/capitalism is all about! NOT YOU.

[hillstones]

alansky, on 17 February 2010 - 09:53 AM, said:

Eric72, on 17 February 2010 - 08:31 AM, said:

Apart from that, and not having control over third-party apps having access to your personal info (which they really do need to address), the security settings implemented are pretty good.

That's a pretty big "but". It is extremely sleezy of Facebook to allow third-party apps to access members' personal information without consent under any circumstances.

They don't allow access. The user must click the ALLOW button when they access one of those third-party apps, like the stupid games and quizzes. It is pretty easy to go through the privacy settings and choose how much info you want shared. If you don't want the third-party apps to have access to your profile, then don't use them. It is very simple. You can also go back to Application settings and DELETE all the third party apps you used in the past too.

No damage has been done when people agree to join a social networking website and post information online that either their friends or everyone can see, depending on their privacy settings. If you are worried about something getting out, either don't post that information, or don't join social networking sites.

Facebook has allowed me to find old high school and college friends that I have not talked to in 20 years. I think it is a great service. People should take the time to learn how to use it, rather than complain about it.

[vicstevens]

When I wrote to FB's customer service to complain that my AGE was appearing in ads with great frequency, and that my birth year had NEVER been published, not even to Friends, and I'd never use an App that requested my birth date, and my Security settings have always been Friends Only. FB pretty much told me I was imagining things and to 'let them know if there was a problem'. Hmmm, I wonder why I complained in the first place. Yet those ads continue to appear with my age in them. How could so many, diverse advertisers know my age? I suppose that (and other personal data) might be pulled through my Friends' Security settings. If so, that is really obnoxious, and deserving of a lawsuit.

[vicstevens]

Let me clarify, since MW doesn't let us Edit posts...my Friends have NEVER had permission to see my birth year, but can see my other personal data. So the mystery remains how so many advertisers have come to know my birth year.