Facebook Privacy

I love FB. I love that I can communicate and keep up with my friends and relatives, and share aspects of my life, all in one place.

But even though FB has up until now stressed that the privacy of its users was its top priority, that is no longer the case. You can get details in any number of websites so I don't need to go into it here too. I do, however, want to detail the steps I've taken to help keep MY words on MY wall to be seen only by MY friends of MY choosing.

(The #1 rule of the internet has always been that NOTHING IS PRIVATE on the 'net. And the 'net includes not just the web and forums = even private, password-protected ones - but email, IRC, usenet, etc. Anything you write, anywhere, that uses the 'net to take your words anywhere can never be guaranteed private. EVER! Remember that whenever your fingers are on your keyboard or you are speaking into your mic or broadcasting on your webcam.)

The first thing I did to try and protect myself was to tighten up all of my privacy settings, through Account/Privacy Settings and Account/Application Settings. Just root around in those areas until you've covered every possible category and subcategory, changing everything possible to "only friends" or even "only me" where applicable.

Next I deleted all of my profile information that FB had automatically linked to the pages it considered appropriate. This is done under Edit My Profile (under your profile pic on your profile page), Basic Information. FB warned me that those areas would be blank. Yeah, so? At least I'm no longer linked to pages I didn't choose to be linked to.

Then I deleted all of my likes and interests, since those are also automatically linked to pages outside of my own. I deleted every TV show, type of music, everything. It is fairly easy to do. To the right of each section is a clickable icon that takes you to the page; on each page you "unlike" it. Yes, it is time-consuming, but easy. Make sure you click on Show Other Pages when you get to the bottom, too. That's even easier, since it pops up a list of the remaining pages and you just have to go down the list and click to delete each one.

Perhaps the most important thing, since this now links us to sites OUTSIDE of FB, is to opt out (FB automatically opts you IN) to the Instant Personalization Pilot Program. I reached this via Privacy Settings/Applications and Websites. It's the last option at the bottom; click on Edit Setting to opt out. THEN, I went to http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=17103 and to each of the 3 (so far!) sites listed and had to opt out on each of THOSE! FB promises to add more sites, so I have set this link as my browser's homepage. Every day when I open it I will see if they have added any more, so I can opt out right away.

Since I'm doing housecleaning, I'm also leaving groups, although there haven't, AFAIK, been any privacy concerns with those yet. (If I missed something, please let me know ok?) I'm in hundreds of groups - they really build up after a while! So any that aren't personally important to me on a daily - or at least weekly - basis I am leaving.

If you have any questions about what I've done or why, please feel free to ask and I will try to answer the best I can. I'm not a FB geek by any means. I just want to be free to share my news and things with the people who are part of my life, not with everybody everywhere. And as long as I have some control over my ability to do that I will continue to use FB.

One last note: FB has promised over and over again that they won't charge its users for the service it provides...and certainly it shouldn't have to, with its massive user base it can pay for itself (and hopefully profit, as well anyone should who provides a great service!) from advertising - even targeted advertising. But when they start violating the trust of its users, most of whom signed on back in the "we value your privacy" days - which ended just a few short months ago! - that's when I will regretfully have to go elsewhere for my online social interactions. And that will be a really sad day for me.