Facebook's Labyrinthine Privacy Settings

In recent months, Facebook has revised its privacy policy, which is 5,830 words long, to require users to opt out if they wish to keep information private, making most of that information public by default. Some personal data is now being shared with third-party Web sites.

As a result, the company has come under a blitz from privacy groups, government officials and its own users, who complain that the new policy is bewildering and the new opt-out settings too time-consuming to figure out and use.

The new opt-out settings certainly are complex. Facebook users who hope to make their personal information private should be prepared to spend a lot of time pressing a lot of buttons. To opt out of full disclosure of most information, it is necessary to click through more than 50 privacy buttons, which then require choosing among a total of more than 170 options. Facebook's 'Help Center' is available to assist users, but the word count for the privacy-related FAQ adds up to more than 45,000 words.

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