We have some great readers here at The Next Web. One reader, Koen, alerted us to something that had us completely baffled. With today’s launch of Timeline for your Facebook profile, the fact that any of your friends can now change the location on your photos went missing.
Is that a feature or a bug? I can’t for the life of me figure out why I’d want to let anyone tag my photo with a location. Furthermore, this is just asking to be misused, and it took me a half hour to find the privacy setting that shuts it off. For a while, I thought it was the “check-in” feature that allows your friends to check you into certain places with them.
Nope.
Worst feature ever
While playing around with this “feature”, I became enraged to watch our own Brad McCarty change the location on two of my profile pictures.
Check it out:
I don’t ever remember allowing this feature to be turned on, nor can I understand why I’d want this feature at all. Brad wasn’t tagged in this photo, nor did he comment on it or like it. He just waltzed in and changed the location for all to see.
I figured I’d take this fun prank for a spin and change Matthew Panzarino’s profile picture location:
Want to turn it off? Change this mislabeled setting:
One thing with this setting though, it doesn’t allow your friends to tag your photos at all, even though it promises to give you a tag review notification. Where’s the granularity, Facebook? I don’t mind if someone tags themselves in a photo of mine, but location isn’t something I’m willing to trust anyone with.
You’d think that after all of the privacy hoopla Facebook has gone through with the FTC, they’d have these kinds of things sorted out, especially when rolling out a network-wide feature like Timeline.
Seems like a mistake on Facebook’s part to me, but maybe I missed something. If this catches on, it’ll take one hour for a drunk friend of mine to change the location on all of my pictures, and even more time to change them all back.
Thanks, Facebook. I think.
It gets worse, or has gotten worse, again.
I also checked this option:
" Hiermee kunnen je vrienden veel tijd besparen bij het toevoegen van tags aan hun eigen foto's, met name wanneer er veel foto's van één evenement van een label moeten worden voorzien. Als een vriend een foto uploadt waarin een persoon voorkomt die op jou lijkt, wordt automatisch jouw naam voor de tag voorgesteld. Je vriend kan het voorstel negeren zodat er geen foto's automatisch worden getagd. Je wordt niet automatisch getagd.UitgeschakeldIngeschakeldUitgeschakeldVoorstellen om je te taggen wanneer vrienden foto's uploaden met gezichten die op jou lijken"
This seems to use facial features to tag me, or something/body that looks like me, as being me. It will surely combine my geo-data and some other info to prevent me from being both in Alaska, Amsterdam and Athens at the same time. I have remove most personal data as my friends can use apps that will give my information and may use the information I have of my friends.
This isn't Big Brother any more: that was just the sweetener! Here I have to undo my friends actions.... Privacy hell has a name...
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LikeI don't have a problem with it and I don't think most people do. I don't have friends that are complete dicks. If they did something like locating all my photos to a weird location I'd just remove them from Facebook, not a problem. I like the fact friends can tag locations for photos. It helps create a photo-map without me having to manually tag every photo. There's no way Facebook has done this by accident. I'm sick of seeing stupid articles every time Facebook releases a risky/innovative update.
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LikeLuke 'jaewun' Johnson How is this innovative at all? The innovative thing to do would be to let us granularly control who can do what with your stuff.
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LikeDrew Olanoff I was speaking in general about Facebook features. In this case you have to think about the direction Facebook is taking. It's about perspective. I believe they have the idea that you 'trust' your friends. However I do feel the idea of having friends help build a photo/history/map of your life is innovative. I do agree that there should be setting to disallow it though, however it is a feature I would not disable if I had the choice. It's like Wikipedia for your photos. :D
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LikeFacebook needs to change the way they do their updates in relation to their privacy changes. Current Method:1.) Change the UI and functionality of the web-site for users.
2.) Wait.
3.) Wait.
4.) Someone realizes that with the new change led to a hole in their privacy settings and complains.
5.) Wait.
6.) Undo previous update
7.) Decide to undo what has recently been undone.
8.) Send users on treasure hunt to find how to fix the issue.
9.) Wait.
10.) Eat some pizza.
11.) Issue an apology, and declare it was a bug.Should be:
1.) Test the changes of UI and functionality of updates pre-rollout.
2.) Roll out update.
3.) Ensure that when a user logins for first time after update they are greeted with something explaining the changes.
4.) Tutorial link on how to adjust/edit privacy settings in relation to new updates.
5.) Sit back and enjoy all of the new information that people are going to upload to the site.
6.) Buy giant bank vault, fill with gold coins, and go swimming Scrooge McDuck style.
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LikeNot sure this is totally correct. I've had timeline for a while, and I'm careful with my tags. I've had tag reviews on, and my friends ARE allowed to tag me in photos, but those tags need approving by me before they become public.
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LikeMazher Abidi the fact that you're not sure is a sign that the privacy settings are fubar. nobody here knew about this feature, and location should most definitely not be combined with other photo tagging.
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LikeDrew Olanoff I don't disagree with you Drew, and as is de rigeur with Facebook the settings for yet another new product are vague. Again.
But the article says having tag reviews on means friends can't tag you in photos.
"One thing with this setting though, it doesn’t allow your friends to tag your photos at all"
In my experience, that hasn't been the case.
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LikeConversation from Twitter
mmangen appreciate the RT, thanks!
Conversation from Facebook
thanks for spreading this... I really have a problem with letting people know, where I am....
I don't have a problem with it and I don't think most people do. I don't have friends that are complete dicks. If they did something like locating all my photos to a weird location I'd just remove them from Facebook, not a problem. I like the fact friends can tag locations for photos. It helps create a photo-map without me having to manually tag every photo. There's no way Facebook has done this by accident. I'm sick of seeing stupid articles every time Facebook releases a risky/innovative update.