Facebook Hides Privacy Settings in App Update

In this image from video, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies during a House Energy and
House Energy and Commerce Committee via AP

Facebook has reworked its privacy settings once again, making it even harder to locate them in multiple menus across the app. The Masters of the Universe claim that scattering privacy settings into multiple different categories matches “people’s mental models.”

TechCrunch reports that Facebook has again decided to rework its privacy settings, significantly rearranging where vital settings are located. Instead of a singular “Privacy Settings” tab, Facebook how scattered these settings into multiple categories.

This is at direct odds with Facebook’s decision to centralize all privacy settings in 2018, stating: “We’ve redesigned our entire settings menu on mobile devices from top to bottom to make things easier to find. Instead of having settings spread across nearly 20 different screens, they’re now accessible from a single place.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is applauded as he delivers the opening keynote introducing new Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram privacy features at the Facebook F8 Conference at McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California on April 30, 2019. – Got a crush on another Facebook user? The social network will help you connect, as part of a revamp unveiled Tuesday that aims to foster real-world relationships and make the platform a more intimate place for small groups of friends. (Photo by Amy Osborne / AFP) (Photo credit should read AMY OSBORNE/AFP/Getty Images)

This, of course, makes the most sense, locating all privacy-related settings that users may want to access in one area. But this week, Facebook decided to rearrange the settings section completely. The company said in an announcement: “Settings are now grouped into six broad categories, each containing several related settings: Account, Preferences, Audience and Visibility, Permissions, Your Information, and Community Standards and Legal Policies … We’ve unbundled the Privacy Settings category and moved the settings previously contained within it into other categories.”

This leads to the question — where are privacy settings now located? Facebook said that it “renamed them to more closely match people’s mental models,” meaning it should be more intuitive for users. But, it turns out Facebook has taken the various settings that were previously located in the Privacy Settings tab and just spread them across the various other tabs available in the settings section.

“We’re confident this new settings page will make it easier for people to visit their settings, find what they came for, and make the changes they want,” Facebook claims.

july 4

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg chose a hovering electric surfboard, the U.S. flag and a John Denver “Take Me Home, Country Roads” soundtrack to underline his everyday, all American boy self-regard on July 4. As you do.

The update is expected to roll out across iOS, Android, mobile web, and FB Lite this week. Read more at TechCrunch here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com

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