After Criticism, Facebook Revises Privacy Settings

Europe slammed as unacceptable the changes by social networking website Facebook to its privacy settings, that would allow the profiles of its users to be made available to third party websites."It is unacceptable that the company fundamentally changed the default settings on its social-networking platform to the detriment of a user", the group of European data protections authorities said in a letter Wednesday.The EU group, known as the Article 29 Working Party, met on May 11-12 in Brussels to discuss safer networking principles.

Struggling social network MySpace plans to unveil simplified privacy settings in a bid to differentiate itself from rival Facebook, which is under fire over its privacy practices, The Wall Street Journal said Monday.The newspaper, which is owned by News Corp, which also owns MySpace, reported that the new MySpace privacy controls would take effect in the coming weeks.The Journal said the new controls give users the option to select one privacy setting for all of the information in their profiles such as their user name, their birthday, their interests or photos.

Facebook on Wednesday began making outside applications or websites detail what private information they want from people's online profiles.Websites or applications then must get permission from users for specific data, according to Bret Taylor of Facebook.The move came in the wake of Facebook revamping its privacy settings in order to appease critics who complained it was not properly safeguarding information.

Facebook has revealed new tools on the website that allow users to connect to other websites like Fandango. They can also personalize their surfing experience based on their Facebook profiles. Some people worry that others may not realize the ramifications of giving away so much personal information.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Google is facing a legal battle from UK internet users complaining that their privacy has been breached by the firm.

Facebook has a long history of upsetting its users by suddenly announcing a change to its privacy settings. In 2009, as a way to quiet the critics, Facebook set up a system for its customers to vote on changes. If enough of them were unhappy, the company would back down. Now, Facebook wants to get rid of the voting.

Facebook has unveiled new privacy settings that allow users to control who sees their material, and how much information third parties can gather on them.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Bowing to complaints from bloggers, senators and consumer groups, Facebook has retooled its privacy settings to give users easier ways to control their personal information.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us