Times Dissects Facebook’s Privacy Options and it Isn’t Pretty
The New York Times has published a fantastic infographic laying out all the different types of personal information available from your Facebook profile. Facebook has a history of underhanded policies meant to allow any third party to access a lot of personal information without a user’s knowledge. There was the whole “Beacon” debacle where things you bought online could automatically be shared with everyone you are connected to on the social networking site. Recently, they’ve rolled out new privacy rules, controls and related policy. In fact, as the Times’ chart points out, the new privacy policy is longer than the US Constitution (minus the amendments).
In total, there are 50 settings with over 170 options for controlling how your information is shared. Some of it, you can’t control as third parties are allowed access to your info through your friends’ profiles, which you don’t have direct control over. Definitely check out the infographic, it’s an informative and unsettling read. For marketers, it’s a thin line between having accurate demographic info and invasive data collection.
Tags: facebook, social media