In a not-uncommon development for the social-networking leader, Facebook’s recently released privacy controls are leaving the company a bit red-faced. As a result of a new policy that by default makes users’ profiles, photos and friends lists available on the web, almost 300 personal photos of founder Mark Zuckerberg became publicly available, a development that had gossip sites like Gawker yukking it up.
Kashmir Hill, a blogger for True/Slant, first reported Zuckerberg’s new exposure, noting, “Either Mark Zuckerberg got a whole lot less private or Facebook’s CEO doesn’t understand the company’s new privacy settings.” Under the new privacy regime, user profiles are exposed to the web unless users are proactive about limiting access.
Hill reported that while Zuckerberg has in the past offered very limited access to his Facebook information, his profile is now “uber-public.” Hill reported: “I can see his wall, his photo albums, and his events calendar. Zuckerberg recently became a fan of Taylor Swift, uploaded graphic photos of The Great Goat Roast of 2009 three months ago, and plans to attend the Facebook holiday party on Friday night. I can even tell you where it’s going to be held.”
Friends Lists Too Public?
Such revelations suggest that privacy concerns about the new settings may be justified. “Is Mark Zuckerberg’s reaction to privacy complaints to lead by example and let 350 million Facebook users peruse his Facebook activity? Or is the company’s own CEO confused by the changes and exposing more to the world than he intended?” Hill asked. If it’s the latter, what chance do Facebook’s millions of younger and less sophisticated users have?
Meanwhile, Facebook is already facing user push back on a related topic — the new policy’s forced publishing of friend lists. As originally rolled out, the policy sets everyone’s friend lists to be publicly viewable –…