Facebook Retroactively Makes More User Data Public

mjn writes "In yet another backtrack from their privacy policy, Facebook has decided to retroactively move more information into the public, indexable part of profiles. The new profile parts made public are: a list of things users have become 'fans' of (now renamed to 'likes'), their education and work histories, and what they list under 'interests.' Apparently there is neither any opt-out nor even notice to users, despite the fact that some of this information was entered by users at a time when Facebook's privacy policy explicitly promised that it wouldn't be part of the public profile."

Comments

Re:Don't worry

[drinkypoo]

Anyone who ever had even a passing interest in personal data security and privacy has left Facebook months ago

Stop making retarded generalizations. I have a passing interest in personal data security and privacy, but I don't post stuff to Facebook that it would be harmful to have known by the public, except where it's already a part of the public record. From my former writings and whatnot, largely accessible through google and the internet archive, you can tell what my full name is, my hometown, my high school. Why should I try to make these things private at this late date? I don't announce that I'm leaving my home to go on a trip (or for that matter, that I'm out) unless I have a house sitter, as I did during my recent visit to Panama.

(or, like me, never considered it a great idea to put your life online for public review).

Your life is already online for public review by anyone with letterhead, a fax machine, a business license, and a few bucks a month for access to ostensibly public-but-controlled databases like MERLIN.

Everyone left will probably think it's a great feature.

Every time failbook makes one of these changes, I get about ten people out of my 111 FB friends, the majority of whom are not tech-savvy, telling us all how to lock your account down again. Most everyone does so, because why help? The majority of people who don't, I suspect, are people who only use FB for games and don't have any personal information worth mentioning there anyway.