Sunday, December 5, 2010

New Facebook Profiles Only Hours Old...And Already A Privacy Glitch

What was my first thought when I heard about the new Facebook profile layout?

So does the new Facebook profile come with any "oops" privacy roll-backs like previous Facebook changes? #skepticalofFBless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone



Looks like we didn't have to wait long for the first privacy glitch to reveal itself; apparently you can now edit your friends' interests on Facebook. Surely there are more "surprises" to come; call me paranoid, bitter, or just crazy but I maintain that the reason Facebook makes such frequent changes is so they can slip some secret privacy-killers in without people noticing.

A few other things to be mindful of with this change:

  1. The most prominent new feature is the photo montage at the top of your profile. It pulls in photos you've added and photos others have tagged you in. You might want to check your privacy settings for letting others tag you in photos. (Go to "account," "privacy settings," "customize settings," "things others share" and select "photos and videos I'm tagged in."
  2. Check your info tab--are your address, email, phone number displayed at the bottom? You might want to re-think that. There used to be a way you could pull your interests and contact info into an app called The Green Safe that let you keep your information away from Facebook but still available to your friends, but it looks like now that tabs are gone from profiles that won't work anymore.
  3. I went to add my kids in the new "relationships" part of the profile, but then had to smack myself. I don't check in on Foursquare at my kids' schools or places I go with them; I don't use their real names when I talk about them on Twitter--why do I want to give Facebook more personal info about my kids? 

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