Facebook have announced that they will be tightening their security controls to safeguard the personal information of their users. The move comes weeks after Facebook confirmed their plans to simplify their privacy settings.
The social networking site has come under fire from the authorities in recent months over concerns about the safety of minors on the site. There have been calls for enhanced security in order to protect younger Facebook users from potential abusers. Facebook’s chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly, promised that security settings would be beefed up to ensure the safety of minors on Facebook.
However there have been police reports in the US in the past few weeks of sex abusers using Facebook as a tool to groom young girls, so privacy standards still remains an issue.
Canada’s Privacy Commissioner led a report recently to investigate the effectiveness of security controls on Facebook. The report concluded that “over-sharing of user’s personal information with third party developers who create popular Facebook applications such as games and quizzes” were one of the biggest threats to security.
The Commissioner confirmed that Facebook have agreed to bar application developers from accessing personal information, unless they receive direct consent from the user. The site will also inform members of the difference between deactivation of an account, and account deletion and how this affects information. Plus Facebook will also make clear that the profiles of users who have passed away may be kept active in order to serve as a memorial for friends of the deceased member.
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