The Confident Copywriter

Posts Tagged ‘facebook privacy’

Over the last week, I’ve received numerous emails regarding the Facebook privacy issue. Some of them go more or less like this:

“I know how to fix the Facebook privacy issue. I deleted my account! So there. That will show them! My real friends and family already know how to reach me.”

Brilliant solution…NOT…and one that completely misses the boat on this topic. Here’s the point: there is no reason to contribute to the mass hysteria surrounding this privacy issue. I would venture a guess that someone who can so easily dismiss his or her account doesn’t have much going on in terms of online marketing anyway. I have thousands of Facebook followers, and deleting my account could have serious consequences to my overall marketing plan.

So what additional steps can you take? Here comes the good part.

Recently, I shared in a LinkedIn discussion with Sara Nussbacher, an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant in North Carolina, who turned me on to the coolest little tool for managing your FB privacy settings. The tool is called the Facebook Privacy Scanner, available at www.reclaimprivacy.org.

I spoke with the owner/designer, Matthew Pizzamenti, (also cofounder at www.Olark.com, a very affordable, very cool live chat tool I love and have installed here on the blog.) I was very pleased to learn the Facebook Privacy Scanner tool is free, although plans to keep it that way may change soon. Facebook Privacy Scanner is simple to use, quick, and will ensure that, even if you followed my instructions for manually privatizing your profile, you haven’t missed any crucial steps.

Sara tells me she discovered an important missed spot…”sharing info with friends”…essentially the function which alerts others that you are online and active.

I strongly suggest you take a moment to jump over to www.ReclaimPrivacy.org and follow the very easy instructions. It’s the final piece in your privacy puzzle.

In an earlier post, I promised to provide you with the manual steps for protecting your privacy on Facebook. Without further ado, let’s begin.

1. Log in to your FB account
2. In the top right corner, click on Account
3. Click on Application Setting

In the drop down box at the top right of your list of applications, change “Show” to “Authorized.” You can now view all of your current applications.

For each app you wish to remove, click on the X in the right hand column of the list corresponding to that app. A pop-up box will appear. Click “Remove” to delete the app, then click “Okay” to confirm removal.

Being that the issue here is privacy and confidentiality, and given that FB offers little choice, some experts suggest deleting every app- wiping the slate clean, so to speak.

To avoid sharing your personal information, such as location and phone number, we’ll need to adjust the Privacy settings.
Once again, in the top right corner of your profile, click on ‘Account’. Then choose ‘Privacy Settings’.

From your privacy settings page, click each of the individual options, such as Profile Information, Contact Information, etc. and follow the on page directions to go through and choose the settings you want. In almost every case, you have the option to select ‘Only Me’ to ensure no one but you can see certain private information. You can select ‘Specific Friends’ by inputting their email addresses. You can select ‘Friends Only’ or ‘Everyone’.

From Privacy Settings, select “Applications and Websites.”

On the next page, go through each option and choose the settings you want. Most importantly, choose “Edit Setting” next to “Instant Personalization Program”.

You will arrive at the Instant Personalization Pilot Program page, the page causing all the hubbub. “Allow select partners to instantly personalize their features…” will already be checked. Facebook has kindly done this for you, so your information can be shared with sister websites Yelp, Pandora and Microsoft docs. If you wish to disable this feature, and we assume you do since you’re reading this, simply uncheck the box. Confirm your opt-out choice in a new window by clicking on ‘Confirm.’

ONE FINAL STEP…

You must also opt-out manually on Microsoft Docs, Pandora, and Yelp. Visit the following pages separately and select “Block Application.” A new window will ask you to confirm as before. Select OK.

Microsoft Docs: http://www.facebook.com/docs

Pandora: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=139475280761

Yelp: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=97534753161

VOILA! Control over your privacy! Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?