Facebook is calling on its 350 million-strong user base to review and
update their privacy settings as it rolls out new tools to enable users
to better control their information.
The new features, which launch today, include: the ability to
control who sees what piece of content on a user’s page, a Transition
Tool and simplified privacy settings.
"Facebook is transforming the world's ability to control its information online
by empowering more than 350 million people to personalize the audience
for each piece of content they share," said Elliot Schrage, Vice
President of Communications of Public Policy and Marketing at Facebook,
in a statement. "We've always designed Facebook to enable people
to control what information they share with whom -- it's the reason our
service continues to attract such a broad and diverse group of users
from around the world. We're proud of the latest evolution we're
announcing today and we will continue to innovate to serve users'
changing needs."
The more granular controls on
content are coming via Facebook’s new Publisher Privacy Control, which
will enable users to select a privacy setting for every post they make
at the time they create it. Facebook has also eliminated regional
networks in favor of four basic control settings – friends, friends of
friends, everyone and customized.
The
Transition Tool offers users a transparent process requiring people to
review and update their privacy settings. It starts with a message
explaining the changes in the settings and letting users either update
or preserve the ones they have.
As
users move through the Transition Tool, they'll be presented a ‘Learn
More’ link leading to Facebook's new Privacy Center, which
explains
Facebook's principles of user control and related features. Users new
to Facebook will be offered a New User Guide with information about the
privacy controls and will receive specific privacy education messages
within important Facebook pages.
"One of our
primary goals is to consistently improve Facebook and expand what our
users can do through the site, and that includes providing them with
new tools to help control their information," said Chris Cox, Vice
President of Product Management at Facebook, in a statement. "The
features we're announcing today aren't the end point, but are simply
the latest step in our iterative process. Great suggestions helped us
get here, and we look forward to the feedback that will help us develop
the next innovation in privacy and user control."
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