There are a ton of articles recently about facebook and what they are doing to step up security and online privacy. Facebook has changed privacy settings and you will be mandated to address them to continue to use the service. They have formed a Global Advisory Board consisting of five great organizations (many of them in our resources) – Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, WiredSafety, Childnet International and The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI).  Larry Magid, a known technology safety expert and the founder of Connect Safely, a board member of NCMEC and more, has written a great article that outlines what facebook is doing. It is a must read for everyone using facebook. I updated my settings yesterday – you should tool. Take time to talk to your kids about updating their settings. Encourage them to look at their “friends” and take this opportunity to divide them into groups – does their boss really need to see the same pictures or converstaions that their friends from school see? Take the same time yourself – do your colleagues at work need to see your family holiday photos? Think about it and take the time to ”Know Better”. Stay safe this holiday season!!!

Facebook details new privacy settings

By Larry Magid for Safe and Secure, reprinted on CNET

Facebook users are about to see an unfamiliar screen when they sign on to the service–a request to configure their privacy preferences. But it’s not really a request. It’s a requirement.

“As far as we know, it’s the first time in the history of the Internet,” said Facebook spokesman Simon Axten, “that so many people have been required to make affirmative decisions about their privacy.”

The company on Wednesday provided details of the changes that CEO Mark Zuckerberg blogged about last week. These include eliminating regional networks and giving users more granular control over who can see individual pieces of content while making some basic profile information available to everyone. Also, Facebook is simplifying what this blogger and others have criticized as overly complex privacy controls, but it is also requiring members to make some information available to the public.

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