Facebook and Privacy: Reputations at Stake

By Kristen Avery - Project Co-ordinator, Echo Research Inc.

Facebook has recently faced scrutiny over changes to its privacy settings, creating a unique situation where both the social network and its users’ reputations are at stake. As a Facebook user for nearly 6 years (a scary thought!), I have watched the site evolve from a closeknit college network to an all-out global “phenomenon.” These gradual changes over the years have emphasized the openness of Facebook, but often at the expense of privacy. The convoluted settings that are currently in place are enough to confuse even a veteran Facebook user. I found out that my “Likes and Interests” were automatically exposed to everyone after a recent Privacy Policy change, even thought I previously set that feature to “Friends Only.” One website has pounced on the controversial policy, publishing every public Facebook status to expose the site’s misleading and complex privacy settings. Anyone on the internet can search through status updates for embarrassing details. Information that users thought were only viewable by friends is exposed to the greater public, possibly putting their reputation and other private information at risk.

Facebook needs to address these privacy concerns and listen to its stakeholders in order to restore their reputation while users should be vigilant about Privacy Policy updates. Yesterday, Facebook announced a rollback to simpler privacy controls, which will hopefully put users’ best interests first and restore the site’s image.

To see just how complex Facebook’s privacy settings are at the moment, take a look at this useful infographic from The New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/12/business/facebook-privacy.html

The opinions and views expressed in this blog are the personal opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Echo Research, its staff or any of its affiliates.