Facebook will be forced to get approval from its 800million users before exposing profiles | Mail Online: 

Facebook will be forced to get approval from its 800million users before exposing profiles

• Deal with federal regulators will ensure 'opt out' system over privacy settings 
• Comes after firm made changes that showed personal information to everyone on web 
• Internet giant also agrees to government audits on privacy practices for 20 years

By SIMON TOMLINSON

Facebook is close to a settlement with U.S. federal regulators that would require the internet giant to obtain approval from its 800million users before making changes that expose their profiles to a wider audience.

Currently, Facebook can alter elements of the site which it believes will improve the social network and then leaves it to users to reset anything they don't like - a process known as 'opting out'.

However, if an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is approved, the firm would have to get explicit consent from each of its users before changing its privacy settings, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Opting out: If a deal with U.S regulators is agreed, Facebook will have to seek prior approval from its users before making changes that compromise their security settings

In control? Users can access this page to customise their security settings, but these can be undone when Facebook makes changes to the site

Citing unnamed sources who were familiar with the situation, the Journal said Facebook has agreed to make the changes to resolve a two-year investigation by the FTC.

Companies introducing a feature or service generally prefer an 'opt out' system because fewer people take the steps required to get out of the changes.

The FTC opened its probe into Facebook after the website made changes that automatically showed users' names, pictures, hometowns and other personal information available for anyone to see.

That upset people who had deliberately programmed their privacy settings to confine that information to a specific group of friends or family.

As part of its proposed settlement, Facebook would also submit to government reviews of its privacy practices for 20 years, according to the Journal.

Mission: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaking in California about the site's new privacy settings in May 2010. He said this week that the firm had given users greater control over their privacy

The audits are similar to the scrutiny that Google agreed to undergo earlier this year.

That agreement settled an FTC investigation into Google's handling of people's personal information in February 2010 when it launched a service called Buzz to counter Facebook.

Buzz exposed the email contacts of unwitting users, a breach that the FTC considered to be a deceptive practice. Google is now in the process of closing Buzz to focus on another social network called Plus that debuted in June.

Speaking earlier this week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he believes the website's changes over the past year have given users greater control over their privacy.

He said: 'I think we're going to need to keep on making it easier and easier, but that's our mission, right?'

'I mean, we have to do that because now, if people feel like they don't have control over how they're sharing things, then we're failing them.'

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