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Getting-Along-With-Your-Computer

Facebook Privacy

Facebook simplified their Privacy Policy, making it easier to control what you share and what you see. Also, a little more on the Firefox Forget Button.

 

Facebook Privacy is a lot easier to control now

Here’s the thing about Facebook: YOU control what others see about you. And to some extent, you can control what you see, too.

Last week Facebook cut their Privacy Policy from 9,000 words to 2,700. And then they added pictures.

It’s never been easy to figure out Facebook, and just as soon as someone smarter than I am figures it out and explains everything, Facebook changes everything. But something good happened last week. Facebook published an easy to understand guide to controlling who sees what. You’ll find the new Privacy Basics pages here: https://www.facebook.com/about/basics/ and if you use Facebook, I encourage you to take a look. Facebook breaks this information down into three sections: "What Others See About You," "How Others Interact With You" and "What You See."

If you didn’t already know that every picture you post is set to Public unless you change a setting, you need to take a look at the first section! Have a look at the explanation of Lists, too. I’ve always used Lists in Facebook to manage who sees my posts and photos. Why? Because many of my non-techie friends would not appreciate the geeky posts that only Friends on my “Tech” list would find interesting. And Friends who don’t live in Kelowna really didn’t care about the local elections, so I limited many of those posts to a list called “Local.”

Lists can be useful in telling Facebook which Friends’ posts you want to see most. Add a Friend to your “Close Friends” list to have most of their posts show up on your timeline. Add someone to “Acquaintances” to get the opposite result. Check the third Privacy Basics section to discover more about how to control what shows up in your newsfeed and what ads you’ll see. You WILL see ads, but you can influence which ones.


I forgot to add the Forget Button!

In last week’s column I mentioned the new Forget Button introduced in Firefox 33.1. You should have seen a prompt to activate it when you installed or upgraded Firefox, but some readers let me know that they either didn’t see it or ignored the prompt and now they want the button.

It’s easy to add. Here’s how:

  • Open Firefox 33.1
  • Click on the icon with three horizontal lines in Firefox’s upper right corner (I call it the Shopping List!)
  • Click on Customize
  • Click on the Forget icon. Your cursor should turn into a closed fist.
  • Keep holding the left mouse button down and drag the icon out to the Menu bar and let go
  • Click on Exit Customize

Here’s a video that shows you the steps:

You’re all set to forget.

 

Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or business computer get along!

Cate Eales runs Computer Care Kelowna (http://computercarekelowna.com/) a mobile service helping home users and businesses get along with their computers. To arrange an appointment phone her at 250-764-7043. Cate also welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send email to [email protected].

You can read previous columns here: http://rlis.com/column.htm . If you'd like to subscribe to this column by email, please visit this link: http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=20618 . It's easy, and free. If you'd prefer the RSS Feed, click here: http://rlis.com/rlis.xml.

 

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.



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About the Author

The Technology Shaman, Cate Eales, has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible, and fun for over 30 years.

Cate lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric. She owns and operates Computer Care Kelowna, a mobile computer business providing on-site service for home and small business customers.

Cate is here to help you and your home or business computer get along.

E-mail Cate at [email protected] with comments, suggestions, or questions.

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The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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