Facebook's new timeline: privacy worries explained - it's all about choice & control (or lack thereof)

Since writing about Facebook Timeline some, having read my earlier post explaining Timeline, have asked me whether there really is a privacy concern, or whether people just need to get used to the fact the information they chose to share is out there.

This is a legitimate challenge.  The question gets to the nub of what privacy in a digital world means to people, and indeed what is meant by sharing, especially when sharing is amongst friends.

A key plank of privacy is providing users with clarity on how their personal stuff will be used, choice, and ease of control over information they choose to publish.

Facebook doesn't bill itself primarily as a publishing platform.  It sells itself as a social network and, as such, encourages candid disclosure amongst friends.  Yet the Facebook timeline makes your digital exhaust - stretching back years - easily visible and searchable without providing all the tools necessary to bulk-manage older posts. 

Privacy concerns about Timeline aren't about public versus "private", the new feature doesn't alter the privacy settings of old posts - although many people are now using tighter privacy settings than they were when they first joined Facebook. 

The issue is, literally, amongst friends.

Most of us have added a lot of new friends over the years.  Old posts were written with a different audience in mind and we perhaps don't want to have e.g. updates from years ago relating to a previous partner flaunted in front of our new love.

The timeline makes it incredibly easy to stumble upon a sensitive update from the past.

In some ways the new feature makes it easier for us to see our digital trail, serving as a reminder of the data published and the permanence of our digital existence.

But this reminder is only useful if we can act on it. Many users have many thousands of updates to manage yet there's no easy way to bulk-delete or hide all older posts. 

Some users would prefer to wipe the slate clean, then selectively publish carefully chosen older posts.  Some, upon having their past laid out before them, want simply to hide it all, and hide it from everyone; not merely limit to "friends only" as per the option provided today.

Not only has our circle of friends changed over the years, many - especially younger users - have developed and don't want to be judged by something said in the heat of the moment many years ago.

Things we thought had disappeared from view are suddenly thrust into the spotlight.  Some users will spend many hours reviewing their past just to make sure nothing too embarrassing can be found by friends casually browsing their timeline.

Whilst some people will love the new feature, many won't. Yet, once installed, the timeline can't be removed. The lack of choice makes me question whether Facebook cares for its users' privacy.

@JamesFirth