how To MainTain Your Privacy??

Introduction

For your own safety and protection you should always review the privacy settings of any application or website you join on the web. Facebook privacy is rather complex and its policies have often been controversial in regards to how much user information is being shared. That is why it is important to have a good understanding of how your information is shared and what policies and controls Facebook has in place for privacy.

Review this lesson carefully in order to get a better idea of how to set your privacy controls to a level you are comfortable with.

What You Need to Know About Facebook Privacy

You've heard the stories surrounding Facebook privacy issues. They range from someone being slightly humiliated by a photo that was shared, to an employee being fired for making negative comments about their boss. These types of problems can almost always be prevented by using caution about what you post and by taking advantage of Facebook's privacy settings. These settings let you control exactly who can see the things you post. Unfortunately, many users do not pay attention to their privacy settings, which can lead to trouble.

Here are five essential things everyone should understand about Facebook privacy:

• By default, the information you share on Facebook is publicly visible. In other words, if you never change your privacy settings, then anyone on Facebook— or on the wider web— will be able to find and view your Facebook information and activity.
• Some information from your profile will always be considered public, no matter which privacy settings you apply. This information includes your name, profile picture, and gender, as well as the networks you belong to. If you'd rather not share this information, don't include it in your profile.
• When you connect with third-party websites and applications, you're giving them permission to access and share information from your Facebook account. You should pay special attention to what an application is asking you for before you agree to connect to it.
• Facebook advertisers use your public information to show you ads that are targeted to your interests and personal information. Facebook does not share information about your identity without your consent. However, if you click on an advertisement, that advertiser may put a cookie in your browser for tracking purposes.
• Facebook uses facial recognition technology to identify you in photos. Facebook is able to use your tagged photos to collect data that will recognize your face. Currently this data is only used to assist with tagging uploaded photos.

Go to Facebook's Privacy Policy for more detailed information.

Minors and Facebook Privacy

Facebook offers some extra privacy protections for users under the age of 18. However, these protections aren't very strong. Minors do show up in public search results, and anyone can view their most basic information, like name and Profile picture. Unless they set privacy controls, their other personal information— including contact information, photos and updates— can be viewed by their Friends and their Friends' Friends, which includes people that the minor may not know, or wouldn't otherwise want viewing their information.

We recommend that parents monitor their teenagers' Facebook use, and work with their kids to set privacy controls that make sense. Remember, children under the age of 13 are not allowed to use Facebook.

For a complete explanation of how Facebook privacy works for minors, visit Facebook's Family Safety Center.

Understanding Privacy and the Use of Apps and Games

As you become active on Facebook, you'll probably start receiving invitations to use Facebook Apps and Games. Apps and Games are applications that let you interact with Facebook and your Friends in different ways. The majority of these applications are created by outside developers, not by Facebook itself.

While most Apps and Games are free, you pay for them by sharing your information. To sign up for an App or Game, you must give it permission to do certain things. This can include accessing your profile data, posting on your Wall, and viewing information about your Friends. 

Once you add an App, it will never again ask permission before using or posting your information. For instance, if you give an App permission to post on your Wall, it can then post on your Wall at any time, without asking you to approve each post.

Although you can't install an App or Game without giving it permission to do what it wants, most Apps and Games let you customize their settings and limit the actions they can take with your account after you've installed them. This lets you use Apps and Games while keeping control over your information.

Facebook Privacy Around the globe

Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is famous for stating that Facebook's privacy settings are defaulted to "social." One aspect of the Facebook social experience that you might not know about is that it extends beyond Facebook and across the web.

The Facebook Platform is a tool that lets other websites connect with your Facebook account and view your public information. Basically, when you visit a site that uses the Facebook Platform, you're bringing all the information that you've made publicly viewable in your Facebook Profile, including your name, gender, Profile picture, and Friends list. There are three main ways that outside sites integrate your Facebook account into your browsing experience:

• Instant Personalization 

Instant Personalization allows sites to personalize your experience when you visit them while logged into Facebook. When a site is using Instant Personalization, it draws from the public information on your Profile to make guesses about the type of content you'll find interesting. For example, if your Profile includes the fact that you like reggae music, music sites like Pandora might suggest reggae artists it thinks you'll like or show you information about the reggae music your Friends listen to on the same site

• .Social PlugIns

Social PlugIns are tools that let you easily share a site's content on Facebook. They also show you content that your Friends have shared.

Platform Apps
Platform Apps are applications that let you fully link your Facebook account to an outside site. When you add a site's Platform App, you'll be able to use your Facebook information to log in to that site, and the activity you do on that site may show up on your Facebook Profile. For instance, a music sharing site might post information about the music you're listening to, or a news site could share links to the articles you've read.

Some people feel uncomfortable with the idea of having their Facebook information show up anywhere on the web, while others enjoy every aspect of the Facebook social experience. Most people fall somewhere in the middle. For instance, you could enjoy using Social PlugIns to share interesting links, but still dislike the idea of having a site share your activity automatically.

No matter what your preferences are, you can control how other sites work with your Facebook account by changing your Apps and Websites privacy settings.