Critics are vociferous in their accusations against Facebook for its apparent exposure of personal and sensitive user information. They are accusing the social networking site of using account holders’ data for commercial gain.

Facebook has recently launched new privacy settings in its site as it had announced earlier. The idea was based on the concept that users should be able to control viewership for each piece of information rather than have a blanket setting which would be applicable on all the content in that account. The new settings are in place now and users were asked to update their settings when they logged in on December 6^th.

The fact that is causing uproar is that Facebook has reset all previous settings to default in this process. This means that unless a user changes his settings manually, his data will be available to other Facebook users and even to those who get to his page via search engines. With this move, Facebook has forced users to get on the job at once and update their privacy settings immediately. This is being viewed as a completely highhanded action on part of Facebook by critics and users.

Critics are accusing the social networking site of using huge chunks of private data as a lure to attract more advertisement, search engine spiders and RSS feeds. As key data like location and gender are open to public view until users restrict them from outsiders, this is being viewed as a move to maximise advertising revenues.

However, Facebook spokesperson Barry Schnitt has clarified that there is no such motive behind the privacy settings change. The only objective is to help users gain better control over their content, he assured.

With the ever-growing popularity of social networking sites, internet safety might be an issue for you if you are thinking of getting broadband for your home computer. There are a number of points to consider when deciding what broadband and choosing the best broadband for you and your family. If you choose your broadband provider through Broadband Genie, you will be given all the information you need about the suppliers on their comparative table of UK broadband providers.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 7:44 am and is filed under Consumer World, House Of The Social Web, Telecommunication Parlor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.