A series of changes that make it possible for its members to understand and define more easily who they are "visible," announced a few days ago Facebook.
Mark Zuckerberg said the changes were grounded, arguing that it is a priority of the social network to offer 1,3 to its users the best possible control over their privacy.
Of course, such statements are diametrically opposed to the strategy that Facebook has had almost since its creation, encouraging its members to "expose" their lives in common "view". As well as with what its founder declared until a few years ago - for example mentioning, in an interview in 2010, that with the spread of the Internet, people have practically renounced their privacy, as they share online and publicly more and more important and trivial things concerning them. However, it seems that Zuckerberg has now made a 180-degree turn and, instead of, for example, "the end of the age of privacy", he wants Facebook to protect personal data even better. data.
An indication of this shift is the way Facebook describes the new "Privacy Control" tool, perhaps the most important of the changes. "The new tool has been developed to help users be confident that they share information exclusively with the audience they want," said the official Facebook site, pointing out that the new feature will become available across the social network in a matter of weeks. From then on, by using it, all account holders on the platform will "check-in" their profiles at regular intervals, basically reviewing all of the confidentiality settings.
Thus, with the help of the tool, they can control who other users have access to and which of their data (including their email address or phone number), making any changes right away. They will also be able to see what information gives access to the applications they use. The "Privacy Control" will even have a mascot - a blue cartoon dinosaur, which will explain the step-by-step process to the user.
"Visible" publications
The same cartoon accompanies another new feature, which is intended for the existing members again and has appeared on the platform. This time, the goal is to alert users who for a long time have left their publications "publicly visible" to remind them how they can change their choice and thus limit the number of people who can "see" their posts .
A change for better privacy protection also awaits those who will register from now on on Facebook, since now the default setting for the posts of new users is that they are shared with their "friends" and not publicly, as was the case until now . According to the social network, the reason is that "we understand that it is much worse to accidentally share something with everyone that you only wanted to share with your friends, than the other way around." At the same time, Facebook will inform new members about the default setting before they make their first post, reminding them that they can change it at any time.
As a large number of users now access the social network through mobile devices, Facebook applications for smartphones and tablets. In this case, the change is to the design of the app, where the option for a post's audience (eg "friends" or public) has been moved directly above the text "window" to make it even easier to remember to make the corresponding setting. Finally, Facebook now provides the ability to hide previous cover photos, for which until now the only option was public display.
Grounds for the change of cruise
Several analysts estimate that behind Facebook's decision to better control privacy lies the pressure it receives from the Personal Data Protection Authorities in many of its countries. world. On the other hand, the New York Times argues that, more than a maneuver, the change of navigation is due to the fact that the network's managers fear that if the management of personal data on the platform is not improved, then users will simply turn their backs on it. back. While the goal remains for members to update their profiles as often as possible, the paper adds, Facebook now believes that will only happen if they are confident that their information will reach the audience they trust.
After all, the social network has not stopped developing new functions concerning sensitive information – a recent example is button "Ask", which will allow a user to ask their "friends" if they are married, "single" or in a relationship. However, the response to online... flirting can be done with a private message, which means that it will be known only to the recipient of the message and, of course, to the social network.
The belief that privacy is now a "ticket" for greater popularity was the argument used in early May by Mark Zuckerberg at F8 to persuade developers to incorporate anonymous subscription via Facebook to their applications. In this way, she argued, an application could gain the trust of users who would never experience it if they had to give her personal data from the beginning.
Source: kathimerini.gr
