How To Manage Facebook Privacy For The Entire Family

A few weeks ago, Facebook rolled out yet another layout of Timeline, causing a brief uproar from Facebook users. While most people settled down in a few days, those concerned with privacy noted that the new design explicitly made finding privacy settings more difficult than ever. Facebook has been known to change privacy settings often, rendering these settings confusing which can affect the way users’ data is accessible by other users and advertisers.Jim Brock, VP of Privacy Product at AVG, has noticed that the rate of which Facebook changes privacy settings really varies. He sees that these changes often “come in connection with new features (like the new location sharing feature announced this week) or redesigns of the site or newsfeed.” The reasons why Facebook makes these changes aren’t as clear, though. As Brock says, “Facebook is a very innovative company, and as they innovate they use data in new ways. New features often require new consents or require new controls. The challenge is that Facebook often chooses default settings that maximize sharing and revenue to Facebook, which often puts them at odds with what most people would choose otherwise. ” However, he adds that “I think people appreciate how Facebook is constantly trying new features and new ways to use data to help us connect with friends. The challenge is that the privacy settings are hard to find and navigate, which means people need help with them.”