Facebook, acknowledging many users ‘upset,’ to simplify privacy controls in coming weeks

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Facebook to simplify privacy controls amid unrest

NEW YORK — Facebook is simplifying its privacy controls amid growing unrest from many of its users.

Protesters have been organizing campaigns to quit Facebook and privacy groups have complained to regulators after Facebook announced new features last month, including “instant personalization” that tailors other websites to users’ Facebook profiles.

“A lot of people are upset with us,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged at a news conference Wednesday at the company’s Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters.

One complaint has been over the fact that while Facebook allows users to hide their list of interests on their personal profile pages, the user would still show up elsewhere as “liking” that band, company or hobby. Zuckerberg said that under the simplified controls, privacy preferences will be extending to those other places as well.

Zuckerberg said the company is also making it easier for users to decline the instant personalization feature.

He said that as Facebook offered more granularity in its privacy choices, the settings have become too complex for many users. He said Facebook is trying to simplify the controls — and making them apply retroactively and to new services that have yet to launch.

Facebook said the changes will be rolled out in the coming weeks. It’s not yet clear whether the latest changes will quell user unease. Facebook hopes they do.

“One of the big takeaways is just don’t mess with the privacy stuff for a long time,” Zuckerberg said.

In a statement, the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based advocacy group, said that “while more work still needs to be done, these changes are the building blocks for giving people what they want and deserve.”

What do you think of the changes? E-mail Barbara Ortutay at bortutay(at)ap.org.