

Facebook removes regional networks, revamps privacy settings - _pius
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=190423927130

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machrider
Of course, the _real_ privacy issue with Facebook is the applications:
<http://pjf.id.au/blog/?position=590>

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whereareyou
Not long ago Facebook added the option to browse by city, which was a great
improvement. When I travel I always look for friends in whatever city I am in.
I don't think that removing regional networks will affect this...at least I
hope not!

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zaidf
If privacy was the reason for removing regions, why not just remove any
privacy stuff associated with regions instead of removing regions all
together? Facebook without region info will look awkward. No longer would I be
able to visit a city and in a click see friends I should hit up.

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ajg1977
"Regional networks are hugely popular... so we've decided to remove them".

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makmanalp
The part you omitted is the meat of the argument

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ajg1977
But there's no real argument, just a flimsy assertion that this will somehow
allow people to better control their privacy.

The inference is that often people are unaware that a network such as "Los
Angeles" has millions of users and thus are inadvertently sharing their
private data with strangers. Frankly, I call bullshit.

If Facebook was serious about my privacy they would a) Create a single page
for security instead of the current maze of pages, b) Change the defaults for
new content to just "Friends" and not "Friends of friends", c) Make it far
easier to find how to remove yourself from Friends/Fans/Groups than it
currently is.

Apart from a), which has been mentioned before but never materialized, you
won't see these happening because they go against the interests of Facebook,
and Facebook seems quite fearless when it comes to upsetting their users.

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Elessar
So long as removing regional networks is only a temporary solution (as they
move towards a better privacy implementation), then there's nothing wrong with
their approach to a production issue.

It's a bit unfair to expect them to rollout the perfect fix for security. This
could have been a simple mistake, where one team pushed out a great new
feature that had unintended consequences.

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nsfx
"...and create a simpler model for privacy control where you can set content
to be available to only your friends, friends of your friends, or everyone."

Hopefully they'll keep the more granular privacy settings, e.g., "Allow
everyone except these people", e.g., "View your profile as Person X".

