Facebook on Friday unveiled a new sign-up process for what most new users around the globe will see when the create Facebook accounts. Facebook says the new process is designed to better educate them on their privacy settings and options on the social network.
The changes consist of a series of new sign-up steps, each of which displays brief guidance about what a user elect to share or not share about themselves on Facebook, and how to go about controlling their sharing. However, the final sign-up “wecome screen,” offers only an optional privacy tour, which users can elect not to take if they don’t wish. Here’s a screenshot of that welcome screen:
Also, in a post on its Facebook Privacy blog, the company admitted that the changes were spurred in part by an agreement reached with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner’s office in lieu of fines.
The Irish DPC is a powerful oversight agency for Facebook’s and other companies’ data practices throughout Europe, and in 2011, the agency launched an audit into Facebook following complaints by a law student that Facebook didn’t delete selected data from the student’s profile even though he clicked “delete.” Facebook wasn’t charged with anything as a result of the audit, but agreed to make certain changes to satisfy the agency, one result of which is the new privacy guidance.
A Facebook spokesperson told TPM that the social network was rolling out the changes to 95 percent of its new users globally to start, but that it planned to eventually reach all new users.
With Facebook already at 1.01 billion users, a number that’s also nearly half of the total Internet users at the end of 2011, it’s unclear just how many users will end up benefitting from the changes. Facebook’s new features are available to current users, as well, if they look for them in the Facebook Help Center.
