Facebook - take care to check your Privacy Settings

Facebook has changed the way its privacy settings operate, asking users to change their settings even if they had already been set. 

Users logging on this week are presented with a new screen that they must engage with before going on to use the site. It asks users to update their privacy preferences in the light of the site's "new, simplified privacy settings".

I confess I found their new improved offering so confusing I opted to stay with my existing privacy settings, which (I believe) are appropriately restrictive.

If you accept Facebook's pre-selected options they will make details such as details of your family, relationships and employer available to the whole internet. They would also make your birthday and religious views available to any Facebook user who is a friend of a friends and your phone numbers, physical addresses and email addresses available to all their friends.

Some privacy options have been eliminated. Although you used to have the ability to prevent everyone but your friends from seeing your friends list, that old privacy setting has now been removed.

Of course, you can always delete the data thus exposed - for example if you want to get greetings on your birthday, just enter the Day & Month - your close friends will already know whether you're celebrating your 21st or 60th!