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Take Control of your FaceBook Privacy

It is no secret that FaceBook has been in the spotlight for its lack of privacy. The Internet is buzzing with news articles about jumping ship and boycotting FaceBook all together. Who wouldn't want to close up their account, considering how much personally identifiable information is being exposed by default all over the internet. FaceBook even goes as far as sharing your information to 3rd party sites like Yelp and Pandora if you haven't opted out of the "Instant Personalization" feature.

Another problem with FaceBook privacy settings is the complex nature of the control system. With over 7 pages of settings to manually comb through, different features to opt out of, and the Armada of applications on FaceBook, it's a miracle it's as easy as it is! The good news is that, according to a Wired news article, FaceBook is working on simplifying privacy controls (http://bit.ly/bV1YFT)! However this attempt may be a little too late, considering the amount of bad publicity just this past week.

In the meantime, there is an excellent tool that will help you lock your account down, and fine tune the amount of information broadcasting from your FaceBook account. The fine folks at http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/ have released a snazzy tool that will remove all the guesswork about which settings may still need changing. Instructions on the use of the Reclaim Privacy tool can be found on their website, and a screen-cast walk-through for users with Internet Explorer 8 (created by yours truly) can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmxB3oMgqMM

-Steve for TTC