Visual Guide To Facebook's Privacy Changes Over Time (PICTURES)

Facebook has been continually revamping its privacy policies, with the general trend being towards encouraging users to share more about themselves with more people.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has candidly announced that he believes the age of privacy is "over," and that norms have evolved considerably since he first co-founded the social networking site.

"When I got started in my dorm room at Harvard, the question a lot of people asked was 'why would I want to put any information on the Internet at all? Why would I want to have a website?'," Zuckerberg said during an interview with TechCrunch. "And then in the last 5 or 6 years, blogging has taken off in a huge way and all these different services that have people sharing all this information. People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people. That social norm is just something that has evolved over time."

Matt McKeon has created a visualization of the "Evolution of Privacy on Facebook" that helps capture how the site's privacy protections have changed.

McKeon explains his inspiration for the visual timeline:

Facebook hasn't always managed its users' data well. In the beginning, it restricted the visibility of a user's personal information to just their friends and their "network" (college or school). Over the past couple of years, the default privacy settings for a Facebook user's personal information have become more and more permissive. They've also changed how your personal information is classified several times, sometimes in a manner that has been confusing for their users. This has largely been part of Facebook's effort to correlate, publish, and monetize their social graph: a massive database of entities and links that covers everything from where you live to the movies you like and the people you trust.

Here's a comparison of how Facebook's privacy has evolved since 2005. See the graphics for other years, and the complete evolution, here.

Comments

[Wally D]

09:25 AM on 05/11/2010

How long before that circle is entirely blue. Bring on the drunk photos whoo hoo.

[trdsf]

06:17 AM on 05/10/2010

As if I needed another reason to not be on Facebook.
A responsible social networking provider would have the protection of the user in mind when they decide on default settings.
Yes, of course, users should read the fine print. Realistically, they don't -- if they did, would anyone ever say 'RTFM!'? And if you've ever worked tech support for an ISP or the like, you know perfectly well that there are a lot of people who love getting online, but anything beyond clicking a button or a link is Deep Wizardry and the privacy policy may as well be in hieroglyphics for all the sense it will make to them.
The privacy settings should be a required part of account setup, not something to get into only if you happen to think about these things ... or worse, only after it's too late. And it needs to be explained simply. Something like "Click here so only your friends can see this. Click here so your network can see this. Click here for the whole internet to be able to see this." Explain what exactly is meant by 'friends' and 'network' and all during the account creation process. And make the defaults the ones that protect the user, so that if they change them, they can't say "I didn't know!"
That's just common sense.

[aliasmoniker]

06:15 PM on 05/09/2010

Two of two.

Social networking, blogging and the like? Educate and inform yourself about terms of service and how to mange shared information. Somehow, many of you can't be bothered to do that, but can be bothered to write semi-paranoid blather here on HoPo. No web for socializing and musings. Go to a bar, keep a diary.

Not only can you choose to change privacy permissions on Facebook, you can also choose to not post self-destructive content about your boss, masturbation habits, and/or your thoughts on your boss's masturbation habits.

Check this out! Back when we used phonebooks, by default, if you had a line, you (AND YOUR ADDRESS) were listed. Otherwise, you had to inform your carrier that you'd like to be unlisted. Enraged, frightened public? Nope. (I recall Steve Martin's "The Jerk", when he sees his name in the phonebook, and exclaims, "I'm somebody now! Millions of people look at this book every day!") Phonebook? Facebook.

Now, sticking with the phonebook analogy, if you (for some dumb reason) had previously shared your kid's names, what you eat, read and listen to, and volunteered your sexual preferences and why you hate cops with the phone company and they let you know that they were making changes and were now going to include THAT info in your listing...unless you could with ease, opt out, would you? Yep. You'd find out how, and do it right away.

Facebook users, (I'm one), do the same!

[aliasmoniker]

06:07 PM on 05/09/2010

One of Two. I apologize in advance for the gimmicky comment. Also, for shouting. And for making this so long I split it in twain.

Did you nay-sayers know that we all have free will? Here are some clichés: "Oppose Abortion? Don't have one!", "Why burn a book when you can just not to read it?". Here's a brand new cliché. Yes, I know that is a contradiction in terms. I'm having fun. Here it is: "Facebook user? Good for you, if you know what's good for you!"

If you can't manage your own freedom of choice, don't pass the job on to someone else. When it comes to sharing information, the buck stops with YOU. Umm..and the the Freedom of Information Act. There are a few things about you that are a matter of public record. For example, court, criminal, property, adoption, birth, and marriage and divorce records.

These are civil issues. You can't tweak your settings on that. If you could, would you? Yep. You'd find out how, and do it right away. Hello? Facebook users? Better get on that.

By the way anything you do on public property is, well, public. It might not be ok with you, but it is perfectly legal for anyone at all to take a picture of you, and publish it if you are not on private property. There are a few things about yourself that you cannot make private. Otherwise, again the buck stops with YOU.

[Mike Gerund]

10:15 AM on 05/10/2010

You are missing a very big point here. I am one who trusted Facebook's initial promise that they protect your privacy. What I post and share with just my friends isn't the end of the world if it gets out to others, but I certainly would rather it not. Nonetheless, I have since grown my "friend" base to a lot people and it doesn't match the amount of friends I have on any other social site. But here's the problem. I am one who DOES take it on myself to keep the private data private, but Facebook has TWICE now CHANGED what was previously default private to default public, and did so without asking until it was too late and all my previously private data was out there for others to see. I had to hunt down in several areas where I could police what they had changed, and change them back. It's a private company, so they can do whatever they want.. that's not the issue. The issue is that they are taking full advantage of every user and only those of us who vigilantly monitor our data availability have a fighting chance of keeping it private, and that's typically after it's already been revealed for a few days if not weeks. There's more, but finally I will say that if I don't like having to keep so vigilant, (more)

[Alyse Sheridan]

08:32 AM on 05/09/2010

You actually don't think how "big brotherish" Facebook can be until it's in front of your face. All your status updates, all your family connections and where everybody lives...a little scary. What could Facebook do with all that info?

[gbuell]

11:02 AM on 05/09/2010

You tell me - what could Facebook do with the fact that I just finished mowing the lawn and that my cousin Jeremy lives in Columbia MO and likes trout fishing?

Honestly.

[Alyse Sheridan]

07:13 PM on 05/09/2010

You make a fair point for humor's sake, but it's just generally not good for people to know that much about your day to day life, in my opinion. Facebook can (and probably does) sell its users' information to advertisers, so who else could get ahold of it as well? I don't want to sound like a nutcase but you have to think about how much personal information someone could take from something as seemingly innocent as a Facebook profile. Tell Jeremy hi for me. :)

[mrjames1]

03:21 AM on 05/09/2010

1) *uckerberg doesn't even use his own site, but tracks your every click and saves it forever
2) exposes your private info, onloy has a 'fan page' for himself
3) russian 100M investment gave access to database and credit card, other info

job interview circa 2015 -
interviewer: ..uhh just a few more things - we outbid you on your face.book privacy rights this months, so i have some questions.
1) that deleted message that we saved says that you hated your last boss, please explain. also explain why you told your mom you were out of town last week when your IP login shows you were in town. and your farmville account shows activity during work hours, but not only that but poor farmville decisions. thanks for your application

[gbuell]

11:03 AM on 05/09/2010

Get back to me when that happens. Hint: it won't.

[concretedonkey]

02:56 AM on 05/09/2010

much ado about nothing - share on FB what you want others (i.e. anyone) to know - don't share the other -

[JMMBB]

12:49 AM on 05/10/2010

Bingo. The posts sympathizing with people who can't be bothered to manage their own information output is both laughable and predictable. It's not hard to both have a Facebook and control what you put on it. However, Luddites can always be trusted to react with hysteria.

[thirdcloud]

10:37 PM on 05/08/2010

As the wind blows...Facebook continues to howl. How long will it take congress to smell this wind?

[peaceandfreedom]

10:30 PM on 05/08/2010

I guess I'd feel better about facebook if I knew he hadn't stolen the idea from his Harvard buddies, and cooperated so fully with the Federal surveillance machine.

[Alvis Brigis]

06:28 PM on 05/08/2010

Mark Zuckerberg is behaving a bit like Genghis Khan, no? - Top 10 Similarities List: http://icio.us/5zmlsb

[KennyJr]

06:27 PM on 05/08/2010

Facebook is good. It helps keep our taxes down (business costs too). It saves governments and business the cost of gathering information on U.S. citizens, employees, and potential employees.

[peaceandfreedom]

10:28 PM on 05/08/2010

Yes, it does all that--and more. The Red Chinese should have this level of surveillance available.

[Don Elliot]

06:03 PM on 05/08/2010

Facebook should use this very graph to allow people to change their settings. It is clear and easily understood. A few mouse clicks and you can set things right. Of course, their intent is to make things as complicated as this is clear.

[hector74elp]

04:17 PM on 05/08/2010

I am hoping someone can reply to this post because there is a lot when it comes to social networking that I don't understand. I'm just a tad above that age limit I think. It is not to say that I'm not on Facebook. I am. And that's why I have a question. If the settings are set to "friends only" on everything, doesn't mean that only the people I have accepted can see my info, pictures and various post? If so, I'm not sure why this is a big deal.

[Strepsi]

04:31 PM on 05/08/2010

You are correct, but the charts are for "default settings" -- so by default, more and more things are public, unless you change the settings.

Almost every single usablility study for any form of tech, from websites to VCR's (remember htose?) show that no one ever reads the manual or Terms for anything; almost nobody ever alters the default settings of anything; and no one ever learns how to use anything other than to achieve the minimum result (even if not in the best way). We are tragic.

[hector74elp]

06:14 PM on 05/08/2010

Much appreciated for the info. And you are right, it is tragic. I think we have created a culture of ADD.

[gbuell]

11:04 AM on 05/09/2010

Exactly. People blaming Facebook for their own lack of interest in customizing their settings is ridiculous.

[freeus]

04:10 PM on 05/08/2010

Who cares if facebook allows people to see if you like this or that. You put it there. If you dont want anyone to know about you, don't post thing about yourself online. If you do, then assume much like someone in the publc eye, you may be osweved doing stoopid shite.

[Strepsi]

04:33 PM on 05/08/2010

This is important because many people use Facebook AS the internet. Just this March Facebook passed Google as the most visited site -- so there are MANY millions of people using something they don't understand. Articles like this are important, and there should be more.

[LynnW49]

03:35 PM on 05/08/2010

Thank you for bringing attention to this.
I deactivated my Facebook account this week after reading about Zuckerberg's "philosophy." From the beginning I was curious about the Facebook revenue model and could not imagine that the ad revenue was the only means of profitability. Now I see that he has turned what were once innocent connections with friends and a network into a valuabke commodity: my personal data and activities/affiliations/preferebces. And yours.

Of course, now I have to go about the tedious process of making sure that Facebook scrubs all my data, which I frankly doubt they will do no matter how many emails I send them.

Do I miss Facebook? Not at all. Those out-of-town connections with folks from past schools and jobs were interesting for a while, but I have their emails and they have mine. And now I have to make local connections in person. How refreshing.