Facebook Tweaks Privacy Tools To Ease Discontent Over Data Leak (reuters.com) 57
Facebook has adjusted privacy settings to give users more control over their information in a few taps, it said on Wednesday, after an outcry over a whistleblower's allegations that members' data was used to sway the 2016 U.S. election. From a report: It put all the settings on one page and made it easier to change and more straightforward to stop apps using data. Until now changing settings had been complex, spread over at least 20 screens, which had frustrated users. The world's largest social network said in a blog post it had been working on the updates for some time but sped things up to appease users' anger over how the company uses their data and as lawmakers around the globe called for strong regulation. "Last week showed how much more work we need to do to enforce our policies and help people understand how Facebook works and the choices they have over their data," Facebook wrote in the blog post on Wednesday.
Too little (Score:5, Insightful)
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Agreed. It seems like an I'm sorry we got caught, vs. an I'm sorry for what I did.
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It seems like this new feature was waiting to be launched much like those news articles ready for when people of fame/stature die.
Facebook needs more than a "new feature" or a "tweak".
This reminds me of the diesel scandal, with automakers saying that they could fix everything with a simple "tweak" . . .
Facebook needs a complete overhaul, top to bottom, left to right, up and down, and many other innumerable directions.
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Translation (Score:4, Insightful)
Last week showed how much more work we need to do to enforce our policies and help people understand how Facebook works and the choices they have over their data
Last week showed that the jig's up, and that at least for a little while we have to pretend that we give a shit about the concerns of Facebook users by making a show of giving them the illusion of control over their data. Dumb fucks.
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We develop an app to respond to facebook comments and messages. Facebook won't give us the same user ID for "messenger" and for "page comments". They claim this is for protecting user privacy (dude their name and profile pic are there!)
The truth is: they give you app-scoped IDs so YOU can't mine data on their users.
But doing so, with our app we can't determine if you wrote to us in public before. So we have two open tickets from you: one for your public comment, one for private.... it's stupid.
And people ar
In other words... (Score:3)
Facebook gets caught hawking your data and has to scramble to release that project that Jerry was working on down the hall in a hurry.
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Facebook Tweaks Privacy Tools for not to get ... (Score:2)
... sued for a bazillion dollars once the EU GDPR [eugdpr.org] goes live on May 25th 2018.
FTFY.
Facebook could probably just wait for the Cambridge Analytics thing to blow over - which it probably will. The CA thing and FBs encroachment on privacy arent't exactly news even though most of the world seems to think so today. Most will probably have forgotten again in 2 weeks time. FB however can not afford to get pissy with the EU GDPR, as it's clearly designed to bar off some of the worst privacy issues with FB, Google and
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Same with Canada. Privacy rights are in the Constitution.
Sucks to be FB.
No change. (Score:5, Insightful)
If you think Facebook tweaking the setting page is going to change how they have been doing things for the last 14 years then you are as dumb as they think you are.
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Yeah, unless they add "Delete Android call log history" button to their privacy controls interface, I'm not interested in their changes. Their app isn't going back onto my phone until they show me exactly what data they are collecting now, and what data they collected in the past.
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they always knew (Score:5, Interesting)
I suspect that Facebook has always know that their privacy settings controls were confusing and difficult to use, in fact made them that way on purpose, the more so to profit by selling customer information. They have resorted only now to fixing that preemptively under looming threats of fines and litigation.
Zuckerberg is the Bill Gates of his era. There have always been two Silicon Valley archetypes. Steve Jobs and Elon Musk embody one, those with a powerful ambition to realize something great by means of business. Musk wants futuristic transportation for mankind. Jobs wanted awesome product design for the masses. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, on the other hand, represent pure profiteering. Microsoft products are an abomination which achieved market dominance only because of strategic marketing and Facebook is gross and addictive. The choice between "We can make this better for our customers" or "we can make another dollar" defines who is which.
You can kind of tell who is which type according to who is admired. You see a lot of intense hero worship with Jobs and Musk. Little to none with Gates and Zuckerberg.
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You see a lot of intense hero worship with Jobs and Musk. Little to none with Gates and Zuckerberg.
. . . and, yet, Zuckerberg was (still is?) eyeing the Democratic Nomination to go up against Trump. So maybe Zuckerberg just mistakenly believes that people worship him like a hero. And just maybe he has surrounded himself with Group Think "yes"-folks to support that illusion.
. . . or . . . fresh off the wacky conspiracy presses . . . the whole Facebook downfall was orchestrated by Oprah! She needed to take Zuckerberg off the field, to leave, um, "room" for herself.
. . . and then . . . the wackiest con
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Jeditip: Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
TL;DR by design (Score:2)
Until now changing settings had been complex, spread over at least 20 screens, which had frustrated users.
Which was actually the objective - make it too long / complicated so people don't read / change things.
O yeah, this is it (Score:2)
Updated privacy policy that no one reads.
THAT'LL FIX IT.
Too. Late. (Score:1)
You built this city on selling our lives as products.
You reap the whirlwind.
Zuckered - "We will never sell your data" video (Score:2)
If you haven't seen this, watch it. Then decide if you trust Mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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