Tom Scott has produced a graphic demonstration of the way Facebook’s complicated, opt-out privacy settings are exposing information that users might prefer remain private — in this case, phone numbers:
After seeing the last two posts about Facebook and their idea of privacy settings, when I came across the following link I thought I should post it here, too.
The link came through in one of my Twitter feeds (danah boyd I believe). It is a tool that scans your Facebook privacy settings within your browser and informs you in a clear way which elements of Facebook are open to all and which are private.
reclaimprivacy.org
Despite it saying that you must add a bookmark to your browser, you can simply copy and paste the link into the address bar once you are logged into Facebook.
It doesn’t send any data anywhere, running only within your browser.
Privacy Value Networks is a major three-year research project that will produce a strong empirical base for developing concepts of privacy across contexts and timeframes. Despite many studies there is still a lack of clarity of what privacy is and what it means to different stakeholders in different scenarios of use. The cost and benefit of collecting and storing data about individuals has not been properly examined, and the value of holding information about individuals for specific purposes is not understood. The goal of the Privacy Value Networks project is to develop and apply new methodologies for the study of privacy and to help government and business to understand the value of personal data, as well as the value and risks for other stakeholders.
The project involves collaboration between the Oxford Internet Institute, the University of Bath, UCL, St. Andrew's University, BT and Consult Hyperion.