Controlling How You Share

Most of my recent posts have had to deal with privacy issues on Facebook. This is because it has been a cluster of screw ups for a very long time and many people have sent me questions dealing with how to secure their privacy. Privacy seems to be a relative term in conjunction with Facebook and how it portrays you in the digital universe.

Now, Facebook has again altered the way in which we choose the privacy options for our accounts. Please note that FB did not change any of our previous settings, only the way in which we get to those settings.

You can learn more about how the controls have changed by clicking "Learn More" in the dialogue box at the top of your screen, or you can go to: http://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation.php

The new controls are an attempt to make privacy settings easier and more obvious to the user.

It is easier to get to all of the controls in Facebook. You can access your Privacy Controls by clicking Account > Privacy Settings. That's it! Then there are four areas of the screen that need your attention.

1.  Sharing on Facebook is the content you post on Facebook on a day to day basis. You may change the privacy settings for each of these items.The default is the Recommended Settings. But there are other options beside Everyone, Friends of Friends and Friends Only. To change to tighter privacy, I suggest clicking Customize Settings in the lower left of the right hand panel. Then you may change from the recommended settings to allow only certain lists of friends to access portions or all of your personal information.

2. Basic Directory Information is the information available to everyone by default and cannot be changed.

3.  Applications and Websites allows you make changes to which applications you use, Game and Application Activity, Info Accessible Through Your Friends, Instant Personalization and the information that is available by Public Search.

4. Block Lists is the list of blocked users, applications and application invites as determined by you.

This is all much more concise than the previous privacy attempt, but doesn't provide any more control than the previous version. Make sure you use the Customize Settings option everywhere available. Use lists to determine sub groups which can view your specific profile information.

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Reclaim Your Privacy On Facebook

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Today, there's a better way to make sure that your Facebook privacy is as private as possible. Now there is one place to click in order to fix-up your profile.

Test Your Facebook Privacy

You can test your Facebook privacy by using a tool is called ReclaimPrivacy, and its name says it all. All you have to do is;

1. Drag this link to your web browser bookmarks bar:                                 Scan for Privacy
2. Go to your Facebook privacy settings and then click that bookmark once you are on Facebook.
3. You will see a series of privacy scans that inspect your privacy settings and warn you about settings that might be unexpectedly public.
4. Follow them on Facebook to hear about the latest updates.

You can surf over to ReclaimPrivacy.org and look for the link that says "Scan for Privacy." Add that link as a bookmark in your browser, either by dragging it onto a bookmark toolbar or by right-clicking it and selecting the "Bookmark" option.
Now head over to Facebook. Sign into your account, then open the bookmarked link.
This will cause ReclaimPrivacy's Facebook privacy scanner to open right at the top of your current Facebook window. Within a few seconds, ReclaimPrivacy will scan through six areas of potential privacy concern and let you know how your account stacks up.

ReclaimPrivacy analyzes everything from your personal information controls to your "instant personalization" settings. It even checks account settings that affect what your friends could inadvertently share about you without your knowledge.

For each area, ReclaimPrivacy will give you a green ("good"), yellow ("caution"), or red ("insecure") ranking. If you hit yellow or red, it'll provide you with specific steps to fix the problem so you don't have to waste time searching for the right setting.

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