Tonight I saw this status update — or a variation of it — from a number of my friends on Facebook:
If you don’t know, as of today, Facebook will automatically index all your info on Google, which allows everyone to view it. To change this option, go to Settings –> Privacy Settings –> Search –> then UN-CLICK the box that says ‘Allow indexing’
I immediately went and checked out my own settings. Sure enough, my default Public Search Results box was checked to allow indexing. What caught my eye was the descriptive text below that check box.
Allow search engines to access your publicly available info and any information visible to Everyone
What this is saying is the data you have already made accessible to the world can (read: will) be indexed by Google. Sure, you can uncheck the box, and Google (and Bing and Yahoo! and anyone else) will not index your world-accessible, fully public data.
IMHO that’s a false veil of privacy. If you really want to know the data that will be indexed you can navigate to the same privacy settings page, and click the Preview My Profile button. I hadn’t seen this button before, but it is a really nice tool.
The initial view is your public view; it is what the world sees when they load up your Facebook profile. This is the data that would be indexible by third parties such as Google and Microsoft. But, it also gives you the ability to type in the name of a Facebook friend, and it shows you what they can see on your profile page. This preview tool allows you the ability to see how your privacy settings affect your profile page, and the data that people (Fb friends or not) can see.
Quick summary: unchecking this box is not securing your profile. It only keeps Google et al from indexing it into their search results. Random strangers will still be able to view your public profile. My advice, use the “Preview My Profile” tool to tune your public profile to where you are comfortable with the information given; all the way down to nothing if that is what you desire. Facebook is only doing what you have setup your privacy to be; if anything is marked as available to Everyone, they are making it available to everyone.
Caveat emptor.
Update – I don’t want this to sound like I’m anti-security. I’m all for security; privacy is a very important thing. I just don’t like the Jump To Conclusions Mat of “[insert company] is evil! They are sharing my data!” when you have specifically allowed them to share it. We need to take a step back and really evaluate what is, or isn’t, happening on our behalf. Then, take appropriate action to secure your data as you see fit.
Tagged: Facebook, Google, scare tactics, security