Facebook unveils changes to enhance privacy

Facebook on Wednesday rolled out new features designed to make people feel more comfortable putting photos, videos, and other personal data online. In a blog post, CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled an overhauled version of Facebook Groups that allows users to share certain content with select people, rather than with everyone …

[Framitz]

Yes, more choices

More choices and buttons to confuse the masses.

This should be entertaining.

Too bad I don't do facebook.... wait! that's a good thing.

[Daniel 1]

They're trying to recreate Acttive Directory for the Web

Expect to see folders with hexadecimal numbers, for names, soon; a special tool, that is normally started from the command line, and is used to edit esoteric 'Hive Keys', giving them on/off bit-field values, in binary; One-Way Trusts, Two-Way Trusts, Intransitive trusts, Cross-Link Trusts, Two-Way Transitive Trusts.... In short, it will be a blissful paradise of 'forests' and 'trees' - and no one will be able to see the one, for the other...

"Oh yes, baby, it will be sooo much more secure than Unix: look at how complicated we made it. Even we don't know what's going on, any more. How could it not be secure?"

[Graham Marsden]

About bloody time too...

... but what's the betting that it's so complicated to set up that most people will just go for the default settings?

[biandewei]

Etymological origin of "world+dog"?

I know what The Reg means by "world+dog", but I was just wondering where the usage came from? Inquiring minds, and all...

[Trevor_Pott]

World + Dog

There is an expression: "everyone and his/her/their dog." It means "the totality of individuals who have not (through choice or otherwise) separated themselves from the mainstream."

World + dog is shorter.

[manishm]

check this out

The problem was discussed 3 weeks before.. http://manishmideas.blogspot.com/

[Winkypop]

But...

...they still don't get it.

Despite all the 'security' on offer, you ARE sharing your info, with Zuckerberg and his associates!

[Elmer Phud]

And?

as per title

(thought there was more than the usual but, no)

[Per 1]

They missed one button

The one that says: "Don't share with Facebook"

[AndyTempo]

Groups are new?

I have been using this sort of thing for quite a while. Maybe they can now be used in more places.

But yes, it will be too complicated for most.

[Anonymous Coward]

Too late.

Facebook's last round of changes forced everyone's Groups and Fan Pages public, with no way of making them private.

I deleted all mine straight away, and they're not coming back.

[jbk]

Delete

They still need to make "remove" = "delete" (as in truly DELETE) before I use it for anything other than stalking people.

[dssf]

"Remove" button

For that, you should post-by-post edit the relevant post, substituting bogus or Latin Ipsum Lorem Crapum Slapu text and crazy phots (if any were previously attached). Then, save the file. Periodically check to ensure that fb didn't revert to the original, correct file.

For those who STILL want to share photos, WATERMARK them with something, maybe steganographic bits so that when your work ends up in some magazine that bought your stuff from fb, maybe you'll catch them.

That time that fb tried to play land-grab on USER ORIGINATED CONTENT, i almost blew a gasket. That was a day when John Maclain from Highlander should have gone after every fb exec, including any major financial backers who stood to gain from that. Sure, they'll bellow "BUT YOU'RE GETTING FREE SERVICE..." SO WHAT.

If you rent land to me and i plant a tree on it or a mini-garden for my survival or mere entertainment, evicting me so you can use the land for other things will not get you my tree -- unless in poison it so you cannot benefit from the "land improvements". SOME things you just DON'T try to hijack from people. SOME lines you just don't cross unless you WANT to be b-slapped.

[Anonymous Coward]

Meanwhile, once again Facebook exposes users' public data without telling them

... by stealth-opting its users into "Instant Personalisation" with two more sites, and making it extremely difficult to block these sites.

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/09/scribd-facebook-instant-personalization/

http://safeandsavvy.f-secure.com/2010/10/05/facebooks-instant-personalization-questions-and-answers/

[John 73]

Ironic given this week's top FB story

This is rather an ironic announcement given the fuss this week about Facebook uploading phone numbers of all contacts from users of their iOS (and possibly Android) apps and making those available to all and sundry.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/oct/06/facebook-privacy-phone-numbers-upload

[Nathan 13]

Title

Facebook have already got an enhanced privacy setting.

Its the "delete profile" button.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Enhance security"???

By removing the "Clear Chat History" button???

[Rob Davis]

You can have attention but you can't control it.

It's human nature to want attention and Facebook provides such an opportunity. However, once acquired, attention is not possible to completely control. Ask any celebrity. Unless you can afford Max Clifford. Even then...

[MonkeyScrabble]

Um.....

Why does it matter what privacy settings they apply? The Zuck takes and sells all your information to the highest bidder no matter what your privacy settings are.

Remember, privacy is dead. He owns everything you post on Mugbook.

By the way, the only thing the privacy settings do is possibly stop your HR department from seeing photos of you with your pants round your ankles and a traffic cone on your head.

[Tom 13]

Don't care about most of what I've entered on FaceBook,

I've modded the DoB to only show month and day, and if I had been thinking ahead wouldn't have put the real one in anyway. And I don't care about that so much except it's one of the standard security questions for finance info.

As far as I'm concerned, if the groups work correctly what is more important than the security is that I can stop annoying friends with my game posts. Cause that's mostly what I do on FB.

[Jimbo 6]

"if it's not something you want shared with world+dog, you probably shouldn't put it online"

Since when did Eric Schmidt start working for The Register ?!

[Anonymous Coward]

But can I group friends?

Groups are nice to lock bits of content in, but can I actually group friends to control sharing by default

For instance... I probably don't want the folks I work with knowing about what I get up to at the weekend so I'd like to be able to "friend" my boss and add them to the "Work" group but I can also friend Mad Kev and add him to the Knitting Circle group and know that while they may accidentally meet in real life (my boss may secretly be into cross stich, but don't ask/don't tell) I don't really want them finding each other via my facebook profile thanks...

Simpler example... I want to stay friends with an ex-girlfriend (parted on good terms) but my current girlfriend hates her... so do I block one of them on Facebook so I get to make the choice who I talk to and move the other conversation to email or will Facebook help me mirror the real world choices I make?