ReclaimPrivacy Bookmarklet Rates Your Facebook Exposure Levels

@notMordecai: Yeah same here. But it is still good for people who have a hard time navigating the BS privacy on Facebook. At least until FB changes it all again and makes it even harder.

MrGutts

All goods thanks to previous articles on here and Gizmodo. :)

Doesn't work on my computer. (I'm using Mozilla Firefox on Ubuntu Linux 9.10, if it helps). All I get when I try to run the script while logged into facebook is directed to a page that shows the Javascript's coding, rather than it actually doing anything.

Fiona Conn

While I'm not a fan of Facebook's constant privacy changes trying to make things more public, their privacy settings really aren't that difficult. Just spend the 10 minutes in the privacy section, set up some contact lists of who you want restricted, and you're good to go. For lifehacker readers this should be a walk in the park.

reuthermonkey

This is REALLY helpful. Thanks!

Wuddel

Excellent. Although some of the warnings I received were due to conscious choices I have made vis-a-vis my privacy settings (such as allowing anyone to send me a friend request), this is a great tool.

digital_frog

SCHWEET!

tacotime

ruh roh

TehBeardMan

I honestly do not understand why folks find the privacy options so complex. They are laid out logically, easily reached and very clearly explained.



I think this is just another case of something being popular so the media must create drama.



Mine is green across the boards using this tool, WITHOUT needing to see some flow chart or read a dozen articles on the subject, because I have the patience and intelligence to READ. Or as it is said on the Internet "RTFM".

ran the scan and I'm all green - thanks! (This also means I properly configured my settings all along based on earlier articles on LH - THANKS!)

jktechwriter

Overall this was a great app and really useful.



Unfortunately, it seems to have a false positive (or what seems like it should be a false positive). I get a caution for my contacts settings and although I am sharing my contact information with only my friends, I am getting a warning because I have allowed anybody on Facebook to add me as a friend, not just friends of friends.



How is it more secure to only allow friends of friends to add me as a friend? I still have to confirm each friend before they can access my data (I assume), so this seems like a mistake.

Rupert Madden-Abbott

Not many people seem to realize how easy it is to gain access to their email account from information on their facebook page

bldwn

Thanks alot! I didn't realise that my friends could share my info with people like that. Other than that my fbook page seems pretty secure!

djmashedman

@cblaz: I thought Google Apps had a quota of 1GB/day, which makes this quite an achievement.

olliebean

Lifehackered by the early morning... this must me a record or they have a really low quota

cblaz

@y0himba: Being a Lifehacker reader means you are probably more tech savvy than the average facebook user. Your experiences are not equivalent to the common experience.

Apoch

@justindb04: Yep! They've just been Lifehackered!



I never thought I would actually verbalize Lifehacker... I feel a little dirty.

TheStephenRay

Yeah, I'm getting the "Over Quota" error too; any ideas?

justindb04

@TehBeardMan: I lol'd, but I'm a little ashamed.

shkm

@y0himba: In my opinion, the issue is less the layout and explanation of the controls, and more the fact that when a change is made to the overall privacy scheme, Facebook opts to loosen your settings instead of maintaining something as close as possible to your previous settings.

BryanCelyn

It's still down. Impressive.

@jonny6pak: errr, so why make a post saying how difficult these settings are when all your readers dont find them difficult at all? and those people who do find them difficult dont use this site anyway?

@Kevin Purdy: or anyone else want to post the bookmarklet in the comments?

jesuswhammy

Lifehacker: The kings of breaking poor innocent websites who would have not otherwise been popular. Lawl!

@AndiC: I haven't been able to actually try it as I assume it's been lifehackered but unless you're giving it any login details it's only showing you what information is ALREADY has access to.

Bobly

what stops this service from harvesting data? I am sure its fine, but your still putting trust into a service where you may not know anything the owns intentions.

AndiC

@y0himba: I have to agree to Apoch, most of the folks on this site are more savvy in general. The average user cannot figure out all of these items; which I've seen with my own friends and family.

jonny6pak

@y0himba: yeah. I mean, facebook only has as much information as you give it. It is not as if it would automatically detect your mobile number and post it online when you did not input it. And it is not as if you could not block lists of people all at one go.



Maybe the media thinks its real cool to have something against the social media giant that Facebook is.



And come on, you are on Facebook because you want people to find you. If you want to be a recluse, don't join facebook! There are plenty of alternatives like LinkedIn if you simply want to make a business profile.



All in all. I am happy with Facebook. And my motto is, if I would be embarrassed by mum reading it, I wouldn't post it.

@y0himba: I would disagree. I'm a VERY savvy tech user and find several things: 1. the sheer number of tweaks and adjustments that need to be managed are huge (about 50 settings per the NYT), 2. The settings have to be tweaked for each item so if I upload a picture I have to set the privacy each time, 3. the settings REVERT each time FB changes their policy - which should not happen and is a gross attempt to share your information as broadly as possible if you aren't paying attention. The privacy settings should be something that occurs on one page with a few clicks - not with a series of cascading menus and confusing language that change frequently.

GizChick

not working

"Over Quota

This Google App Engine application is temporarily over its serving quota. Please try again later."

@holyspidoo: You know, a one-click button would be really useful, but then folks would complain that it hides too much or they have no idea what it does, blah blah.



The real solution is to be able to pay attention for 15 minutes, to read 10 pages, or to do theresearch before just signing up because everyone else does.



I would hate to see today's crop of ADD iClones trying to figure out DOS or configuring Trumpet Winsock.



Take away the crutch and make people learn how things work before giving them a simple button.

Following the "Improving It" instructions on [github.com] will allow you to run it from your local machine for now.

@BryanCelyn: Now that point I concede. However, everything that is there is able to be hidden in a few clicks.

Haha, is there a term to describe the effect of this site? I don't want to use the term slashdot effect, but it is the best that comes to mind.

Malthian

I'm not sure hosting this on Google helps the situation. :D

Toni Lähdekorpi

Crap. Could somebody send me the source for this bookmarklet to [scr.im] ? The server is down... Lifehacker'd!



I want to know if I'm good or not, but, of course, the server is down...

Unionhawk

@y0himba: The point is that if we need to go through X number of pages to turn everything off, it gets eye-glazing.



There should be one button to make everything private (only your friends can see your stuff). Then you can spend 15 minutes toggling back on what you want.

holyspidoo

not sure if pasting it will work, but here it is just in case it goes down again or so we can help their servers:



javascript:(function(){var%20script=document.createElement('script');script.src='[static.reclaimprivacy.org]';document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script);})()

jesuswhammy

I'm good.

cnslr81

@Bobly: That asn't my point my point was people worry about privacy are willing to use apps that they know nothing about. Besides apps can scan you profile and harvist data, even data that may be hidden to your friends list.

AndiC

am i the only one having trouble with the personal info and connections info scans? they never complete, just constantly saying "scanning..."



Maybe it's a good thing...

crazycaveman

@Rupert Madden-Abbott:



Apparently there is a bug that allows people to view your profile after they send out a request BEFORE you even confirm them.



I only allow messages from people who are not strictly friends.



Even then I am a bit apprehensive as sooo many of my friends FB accounts have gotten hacked.



I really really want to quit FB, but the utility right now is massive. For the use I make out of it, it would be like not having an e-mail address. I know a lot of people don't think twice about FB, but there are sooo many benefits.

As I assumed, I'm good.



[i42.tinypic.com]

defubar

They're back up. According to their FB page, they bought extra server bandwidth about five minutes ago and are requesting donations to help cover the costs.

Nice. Looks like I'm not an idiot like some people, mine scored "good" on every scan.



Gawkers war on Facebook is just for those of us who don't know how to use the Internet.

This is nice. I'm going to send my facebook data to an entity I don't know and/or trust in order to make sure entities I don't know and/or trust can't get my data.

lhed

@dinniedraco: Perfect post. I only differ with you on one point:



I am not on Facebook for folks to find me, I am there to add family and real life friends, or for my interests only. I am not even remotely interested in meeting strangers over the Internet. I prefer real life.

@y0himba: There's also the fact that they separate the settings into so many pages. Sure if you sit there and go through them, eventually you'll get to them all. That's the thing that makes it "complex," sure it's "fine-grained," but that's also why some people don't bother or are confused.

Civ2boss

This reminds me...

I barely go on facebook anymore. The last few times I logged on, I got an un-cancellable popup that asked which of my interests I wanted to link to pages of. Since there wasn't an option to cancel (it was either "all" or "choose individually"), I just closed the tab and haven't been back.

Can anyone tell me what these pages are, and what linking my profile to them does?

wildeyedboy

@[github.com]

@[github.com]

@[github.com]

@fuzzypiglet: You might want to check the tool out. It's beyond simple and requires no thought. One can either run through each setting on his or her own, or use a tool that automates the process. Given Lifehacker's mission, I would say this fits into its goal. Beyond that, this site is about sharing information, which many LH readers do. By virtue of LH reporting on the item, FB users who read LH can post the article and spread it through the FB user. Which I see happening already through the few LH readers I know in FB that posted the story. I would say LH is operating as it should.

jonny6pak

Here's the bookmark:



javascript:(function(){var%20script=document.createElement('script');script.src='[static.reclaimprivacy.org]';document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script);})()

tsmvengy

@olliebean: Nice, I didn't know that. Lifehacker ftw?

cblaz

@[www.nytimes.com]

Portalis

fantastic! thanks for posting this!

:))

anechoic

Neat, I thought my account was a little more locked down than what was returned with this tool; fixed now.

Squiddles

@wildeyedboy: hit "choose individually" and then delete any suggestions and/or clear the field so you have zero interests left. Viola, you are clear.

t0ph

Seemed to have trouble fixing my problems.

@drjayphd: Now With Hot Gossy Action!: LOL! :D Dern whippersnapper!

@y0himba: I agree, mine is all good but it really wasn't that difficult to go through all the settings and set everything to Friends Only.

@y0himba: All right, fine, I'll get off your lawn. Sheesh.

drjayphd: Now With Hot Gossy Action!

@wildeyedboy: While I can't, I can tell you how to get past that. Hit back, then forward. It should go away.

drjayphd: Now With Hot Gossy Action!

@Portalis: If folks need a useless graphic like that, maybe they should not be on the Internet. The graphic is specifically designed to take advantage of yet another media fueled drama. News is big business.



It takes less than 15 minutes to set up all the options. I mean seriously, there are a whole 6 pages of well explained options. I am sorry folks just can't be bothered to read them.



My wife, a 35 year old with no college, who hates anything computer and is pretty much computer illiterate, just set up a new account, and it took her less than 20 minutes to read and set the options. Why? Because she actually paid attention rather than looking for some dumbed down button to push.



I came from the generation where we actually didn't have a GUI or a pretty little button to push. Today's generation doesn't know or care how it works, they just want that pretty little button. They cannot be bothered to take the time to read, or they may get bleary eyed. They just want to text while driving and hurry up and get that next super witty Facebook post up in the rush to look great over the Internet.



I think that anyone who wants to be on the Internet or purchase and operate a computer should need to have education and a license, like driving a car.

y0himba

This is a great service!

It looks like it is back up, but in case it goes down again.



javascript:(function(){var%20script=document.createElement('script');script.src='[static.reclaimprivacy.org]';document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script);})()

jmblackmer

All systems in the green.



This is a good tool, will pass the link around.

Morgan Culp

In case it goes down again:



javascript:(function(){var%20script=document.createElement('script');script.src='[static.reclaimprivacy.org]';document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(script);})()

jrobbio

@TGHW: Thanks for clearing that up, i couldnt tell because the site was down.

AndiC

Excellent tool, but all of mine were good anyway.

strabes

@lhed:



I had similar concerns.



The only difference is one (Facebook) is known to knowingly/willingly/enthusiastically share your data and the other is still an unknown (yet has far fewer resources for sharing data than Facebook).

SpudDude

@TehBeardMan: just bought extra capacity, sorry about that. Saw the lifehacker post when I woke up this morning :/

mjpizz+lifehacker

just bought some extra bandwidth on AppEngine, should be up soon everyone. I guess I'll put a donation box to cover traffic costs or something. Thanks for the post Kevin!

mjpizz+lifehacker

Pretty good tool... only thing is it doesn't think it appropriate to allow everyone to send me a message or to allow my profile to be visible under search results to the entire Internet.



Half the point about Facebook is to allow people to find old friends with whom they've otherwise lost contact. How can my old friends find me if I'm not visible? Furthermore, people should message me reminding me who they are before they send me a friends invite. If I don't recognize you, I won't accept, and sending a message before-hand explaining from where I know you can help (since I'm not good with names).



How would either of those items exploit my privacy, anyways? I don't have my portrait as my profile photo, and I don't share anything else with the Internet, so it's not like anyone is going to discern anything about me from my public profile. If someone sends me a message, I don't have to answer it with any pertinent information.

blash

@ZiggyJay: It appears the you are being warned and being given a choice. If you select agree, you are giving that application permission to harvest.



Again, just by reading you have fixed what you perceive to be an issue with Facebook, not with your own choice.

@dinniedraco: Actually, the iPhone Facebook App will sync your contacts with your iphone address book if you allow it to harvest your friends address/mobile number/etc and post without their permission. So...actually, FB does try to post personal information I didn't give it.

pretty cool....this needed to be made....

Damn the Fanboys

I was fine on everything except what my friends could share about me. Great tool, will definitely be passing it on.

@t0ph: That's the one. It basically took every movie/artist/interest you had and linked it to the FB of what you put it. If you scroll to the bottom and deselect and and save, it shouldn't come back up.

@wildeyedboy: If you have an interest, say bjork, and have that in your interest box, it used to link to everyone who liked bjork. But now, it links to a fan page about bjork where you can post pics, messages etc. Same thing goes for job info and college info. Used to, your job would link to a search box that looked for more people that listed the same job. Now it links to a fan page. The risk is, that someone could go to the job fan page, see that you are an employee or past employee there, and know that you worked there. Before, you wouldn't necessarily know that info if you searched for a business.



So just click 'individually' and uncheck anything you don't want linked to pages. Then save your changes.

bookgirl575

@y0himba: One shouldn't have to RTFM to say "no."

It was all good. Except for the friends sharing your info bit. This is very helpful, I didn't even no that could happen.

AxleHelios

Can someone explain to me what "your friends are protected from accidentally sharing your personal information" means in very real settings terms? Clicking on it "fixed" it but I'd like to know exactly what happened; I deliberately keep a certain amount of my information public (mostly my email address)

eleraama

Ran the bookmarklet 3 times. All my results came as "good", except for "personal information" and "friends, tags and connections", where it freezes on "scanning" and stays there forever.

Should I worry? I cannot live with this suspense! Am I clean, oh Facebook masters?

Leafar

@crazycaveman: Same thing here.

joe reader

Wow, Extremely helpful tool.



Thanks to the creator!

c0ldy

@bldwn: LOL, I hadn't given it that much thought. But you're absolutely right. If your mom's your friend, she's probably included her maiden name in her display name. If you've linked her as your mom, then there you go.



However, if you're like most lifehacker readers, you've set some security questions a little bit more difficult to datamine than that one.



Or, you answered the question differently than one would expect.

srwight

i ran it once, and got 2 warning, chanegd nothing, ran it again got 1 warning, changed nothing, ran it again, got no warnings.

Mark Duffy

@Leafar: Same here. Anyone else have this problem? Or even better; a solution?

@y0himba: It's still pretty amazing that they're trying to get _you_ to assert that all your contacts will be comfortable with their privacy policy, though.

Jen007

@reuthermonkey: Seriously, what a big fuss over nothing. Nobody on this forum does *anything* out of the box, why is Facebook any different....just spend 5 minutes to configure your profile.

wordsmith

@Morgan Culp: +1

ThaMofo