Diane Sawyer recently interviewed Facebook CEO and Founder, Mark Zuckerberg.
Facebook upset many people when it expanded how its subscriber’s personal information is shared. While the Sawyer interview did touch on Facebook privacy issues, there are a few additional privacy-related questions I would like to hear Mark Zuckerberg address:
1. Where is the master opt-out switch? Facebook subscribers can opt out of most of the new privacy default settings. However, Facebook has not immediately provided an easy-to-use interface for opting out. Also, it is unclear how many screens one must visit to opt out of ALL the default privacy settings. For example, if one screen offers you the option to make your Facebook postings available to friends only, you may still need to go to another screen to opt out of Instant Personalization.
2. To what extent does Facebook monitor our activities while we’re online and for how long does Facebook keep that data? Some online sites track and record the details of our activities while you’re online. They may track what time you came onto the site and what advertisements you looked at while you were on the site. This can certainly have some value to consumers. For example, tracking what you’ve looked at and what you bought is why amazon.com can recommend additional books that might interest you. However, such tracking can also have unanticipated and unwanted consequences. In a previous blog posting, I recount the story of Disa Powell, a woman whose Facebook and MySpace account data was subpoenaed as part of a civil lawsuit.
3. How do my Facebook friends impact my privacy? Even when you have designated your information as private, someone may have access to information you’ve posted at a social media website through people you’ve friended or linked to. For example, with the Facebook Instant Personalization feature, even if you disable Instant Personalization, Facebook may still disclose information to third party websites through friends who have not disabled the service.
4. How does Facebook monitor the privacy policies of its partners? Facebook shares information about you with other social media sites, with producers of apps, and with producers of plug-ins.
You can view the privacy conversation Diane Sawyers did have with Mark Zuckerberg here.