Facebook unveils new privacy controls
Posted on 19 Mar 2008 at 11:03
Facebook is planning to roll out new privacy controls, as it seeks to regain some of the trust lost after the Beacon debacle.
The new privacy features will allow users to decide how much of their profile can be viewed by their friends, letting them hide individual items such as photo albums and contact details from specific people.
The company is also introducing a "friends of friends" feature which if selected will allow the friends of your contacts to view sections of your profile without needing to be added as a friend.
As with the other features the amount of information displayed will be scalable, and need to be activated by the user.
The new features will be accessible through a new privacy interface intended to make it clear what is being altered and the effects it will have. Users will also be able to set the level of friendship when they first accept a friend.
Privacy has become a big issue for Facebook following the uproar that accompanied the launch of its Beacon advertising platform, which was revealed to be tracking users browsing habits.
"With Beacon we just screwed it up," admitted Matt Cohler, vice president of strategy and business operations at Facebook at the launch of the new tools. "It was just poor execution on our part."
Facebook is also rolling out a new instant messaging service.
Author: Stuart Turton
advertisement
- Motorola pays Lucas for its Droid
- Where are the killer apps for Windows?
- Will you hit the Orange iPhone "unlimited" cap?
- USB 3 first benchmark - it's here, and it's fast
- Why Windows 7 has forced me to worry about security
- How Dixons is (under)selling Windows 7
- Do I like Windows 7 because it's so like a Mac?
- No Windows 7 drivers turn Dell M1330 into a doorstop
- Is Windows 7 good looking enough to sway an Apple fan?
- Typekit brings print-like typography to the web
- The bulletproof Dell that costs an arm and a leg
- Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview: Q&A
- Lawnmowers, the TyTN II and one odd insurance request
- There'll never be a bulletproof OS
- How far can we trust apps?
- Five nice touches in Outlook 2010
- Building a better Google
- Beware HP's horrendous printer-driver glitch
- Microsoft debuts free Morro antivirus package
- Getting started with Search Server 2008 Express
advertisement

Printed from www.pcpro.co.uk

