Facebooks New Privacy Policy Is Way Simpler
Facebook unveiled a drastically simplified privacy policy Thursday that explains in plain English who can see your personal information shared through the social network. The streamlined policy strips out more than two-thirds of the verbiage from the previous policy, which consumer advocates had previously criticized as unnecessarily long and byzantine. "Our hope is that it won't take long for people to read through this and really get it," Facebook's chief privacy officer told the Wall Street Journal. Facebook also launched an interactive walkthrough of its privacy settings, called "Privacy Basics," which guides users through drop down menus with options that can restrict viewing rights or delete posts entirely. The update marks the company's latest bid to make its privacy settings more user friendly since the company in 2011 settled Federal Trade Commission accusations that it broke its privacy promises. In September, Facebook launched a "Privacy Checkup" in an attempt to give users a greater measure of control over their data.