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Facebook Ninja - Controlling Your Privacy

This guide is based off of Facebook settings prior to December 2009. An update with the new privacy settings is coming soon!
I am always surprised when someone makes a complaint about Facebook because nine times out of ten, there is already a Facebook option that addresses the issue. Most of the complaints revolve around privacy. This is completely understandable. When I first started using Facebook in 2004, I was one of those who referred to it as "Stalkerbook". With only a few pieces of information about a person, you could learn their last name and access their profile pretty quickly. There were practically no options for privacy. I was even annoyed that you had to have a legitimate first and last name just to have an account. Now, five years later, I regularly use Facebook and have utilized all of their privacy options. I have come to realize that many people are not aware of the extent Facebook has gone to let you keep your information private. I will highlight these features below.

First Things First - Settings

All of your profile privacy settings can be found in via the Settings menu in the top right corner. Just hover over "Settings" then click on "Privacy". We will be accessing the rest of our privacy options from this page.

Make New Friends, but Keep the Old - Friends Lists

We all have friends who we are closer to, who know more about us than others. Facebook has finally realized this and lets us regulate exactly which pieces of our profile can be seen by who. This is done through their Friends List feature. Your Friends List can be found by clicking "Friends" in the top navigation menu (ignore the drop down). On your main Friends page, you will see your lists on the left-hand side. If you do not have any lists, you will see the button "Make a New List". Why make lists? I have used my lists in various ways. First of all, my "Family" list is quite useful. There are certain pictures that I would like my Family to see but the rest of my friends don't really need to see pictures of me as a six year old. At the same time, my family really doesn't need to see every picture of me out with my friends. Aside from pictures, being able to limit pieces of your profile is handy as well. I have my phone number and address in my profile but only people in my "Jersey" and "Family" lists can see it. But how do we actually get to use the lists? Here's how...

You Can't See It All - Profile Privacy

On the Settings > Privacy page, click "Profile". Here you'll see your profile information broken down into sections. You can customize who has access to view every single one of these sections! This page may seem overwhelming but it is not. There are 10 options to customize who can see 10 different areas of your profile page. Let's just go through them, one by one, starting from the top: And how do lists work with these, you ask?

Everyone but... - Custom Settings

Let's say that you want all of your friends to be able to view your basic information except for one person or group. Simply click, the "Edit Custom Settings" link under basic info. A window will appear on the screen allowing you to select who can view this section. The last option "Except These People" where you can add your exclusions. Simply start typing a friend's name or the name of a list you've already created then click 'Okay'. Now, all of your friends, except those selected can see this section.

Through Someone Else's Eyes - 'View As' Mode

So, you go through and assign different permissions to different lists but you want to see exactly what your facebook page looks like to a particular person.... well, you can do just that! At the very top of the Profile Privacy Settings page it says "See how a friend sees your profile" with an auto-suggest text box. Simply type in a friend's name and click enter. You will then be taken to "View as" mode. The top of your profile will now look similar to this: This is showing you exactly what your profile will look like the selected person. You can then click "Exit 'View As' mode" to view your profile normally, or "Edit Profile Privacy" if you would like to make changes to your privacy settings.

Do Not Call - Contact Settings

The second part of your "Profile Settings" is in the Contact tab. Here, you can assign who has access to which parts of your contact information including im screen name, mobile phone, other phone, current address, website and email address. This way, you can have your new phone number display only for your Family list instead of for everyone. Simply select "Customize" from the drop down menu to make your exceptions.

Hide & Seek - Search Privacy

One of the easiest ways to limit who has access to your profile is by removing yourself from Facebook's search. On the privacy settings page, click on "Search". On this page you will be able to adjust your Search Privacy options. You have three options available:
  1. Search Discovery: Choose who will be able to search for you. For Example) "Only Friends" means that if one of my friends searches for my name in the top right search box on Facebook, my name will appear in the search results. If someone who is not my friend searches for my name, I will not appear in their search results. This means that anyone who is not my friend, will not be able to search for me on Facebook.

  2. Search Result Content: Choose what can be seen about you in the search results. For Example) Assuming that you let more than just your friends search for you, when someone does search for your name, in the search results you can make it so they can or can't see your profile picture, friends list or fan pages. You can even make it so they can't add you as a friend or send you a message.

  3. In addition: Choose other people who can find you via search. For Example) You can allow people outside of your network and friends to be able to find you via search


Stop Talking About Me! - News Feed & Wall

I hate gossipers. I want to be the one to tell my friends exciting news, not someone else. Well, that is how I feel about Facebook's news feed too. I see no reason why all my friends need to know that I changed my relationship status or commented on a photo or made a post a friend's wall. I'm sure that none of my friends care either! Thankfully, Facebook lets you choose whether you want to advertise your business to everyone or not. Simply go to Settings > Privacy > News Feed & Wall. On this page, anything that has a check in the box next to it means that it will be displayed in your friend's news feed (the content displayed on your "Home" Facebook page).

I H8 U - Block List

Even after you max out your privacy settings, there are still ways that people can access you. If you post on a friend's wall, then anyone can click on your name. Sure, they might not be able to see your profile, photo, or be able to message you, but they can still see what you posted on the wall. They can also see any photo comment that you make, as well. To completely erase yourself completely from a particular person seeing your very Facebook existence, you can simply use the "Block List" to block anyone on Facebook! Found in Settings > Pirvacy, at the bottom of the page is the option to block someone and a list of everyone you have blocked, along with a link to remove them from the list. To add someone to the list, begin typing in their name in the text box, then select them and click "Block". Done. This person will not see anything that you do on Facebook at all. None of your comments or postings will appear to them. It will simply look like you do not have a Facebook account.

I Hope He Doesn't See That! - Photo Privacy

I know what you're asking... "What about protecting my photos?". Facebook separates the privacy settings of photos from the rest of their privacy options. They give you the option to customize your privacy settings the same way you can your profile, individually by album. The process is a bit more tedious but is just as effective: Click on Applications (bottom left) > Photos > My Photos > Edit Album (for the album of your choice) > Edit Info Once on the "Edit Info" page, you can go to the Privacy section and choose who has access to this photo album. The options are all the same as the previous privacy settings we've looked at. Anyone you place in the Exceptions list, won't see the album show up in your list of photo albums and won't be able to access it from any one else's comments either.

Worth the trouble?

There have been times that after I have explained these small steps to some people, they responded with "I don't have time for that." I do agree that setting up these permissions takes some time, as does configuring any application. I would say that first-time set-up would take about ten minutes but with very little maintenance. Everytime you request to add someone as a friend, you can put them into one of your Friend Lists immediately within the request. This makes up-keeping your permissions fairly easy and seamless.