Controlling How You Share
Edit your privacy settings
Privacy Controls
- Sharing on FacebookThis section controls who can see all the content you post on a day-to-day basis (such as status updates, photos and videos). It also includes some things you share about yourself (birthday and contact information) and content others share about you (comments on your posts and photos and videos you've been tagged in). Set these now with one click, and your settings will apply to all the day-to-day content you post in the future. "Customize settings" displays a full list so you can control the privacy level for each setting.
- Basic Directory InformationCertain information is visible to everyone because it's essential to helping people find and connect with you on Facebook.
- Name and profile picture are visible to everyone so real world friends can recognize you, and so we can display them when you write on someone's Wall.
- Gender is public so we can correctly display your gender (for example, "Add her as a friend").
- Networks are visible to everyone so you can see who else is part of your network (and will have access to your information) before choosing "Friends and Networks" for any of your privacy settings.
- Applications and WebsitesThis section controls what information is shared with websites and applications, including search engines (applications and websites you and your friends use already have access to your name, profile picture, gender, networks, friend list, user ID, and any other information you share with everyone). You can view your applications, remove any you don't want to use, or turn off platform completely. Turning off platform means you won't be able to use any platform applications or websites and we won't share your information with them.
- Block ListsThis section lets you block people from interacting with you or seeing your information on Facebook. You can also specify friends you want to ignore application invites from, and see a list of the specific applications that you've blocked from accessing your information and contacting you.
Additional Controls
- Recommended settingsWe offer a group of recommended settings as a default. You can think of "Everyone," "Friends of Friends" and "Friends Only" as big buckets containing different groups of information. With our recommended settings, your information is distributed across all three buckets. "Everyone" contains status updates and information that people may want to share with a larger audience. "Friends of Friends" includes photos and videos of you, which are often relevant to friends of your friends. "Friends Only" includes all of your contact information and things that are only relevant to people you interact with directly.
- Control each time you postYou can control who sees each and every post. Before you post a status update, link or anything else, click the lock icon to choose who can see it. What you select will override your "Posts by me" setting, which acts as the default.
- Control with applicationsApplications can only see information you've already made visible to everyone. To access more, applications have to ask for permission for each piece of information, and it can only be information that's needed for them to work.
- Control for what you're tagged inYou control who can see the photos and videos you're tagged in that appear on your profile. Keep in mind, the owner of a photo can still share that photo with people you're not friends with. If you don't want your tag to appear, remove it from the photo or video itself. This will also prevent it from appearing on your profile.
Additional Information
AdvertisersWe never share your personal information with our advertisers. Facebook's ad targeting is done entirely anonymously. If advertisers select demographic targeting for their ads, Facebook automatically matches those ads to the appropriate audience. Advertisers only receive anonymous data reports.- Information available to everyoneInformation you've shared with everyone - as well as your name, profile picture, gender and networks - could be seen by anyone on the internet. Please be aware that it will be visible to anyone viewing your profile, and applications and websites you and your friends use will be able to access it.
- Social pluginsButtons and boxes containing Facebook content may appear on other websites to create more social experiences for you. The sites you're visiting receive none of your information. The content in these social plugins comes directly from Facebook. If you click "Like" or make a comment using a social plugin, your activity will be published on Facebook and shown to your Facebook friends who see a plugin on the same site. The things you like may also appear on your profile (you can control this in Basic Directory Information).
- Instant personalizationSome select partner sites may access your information to personalize your experience as soon as you arrive, but only information that's already visible to everyone. You can turn off instant personalization for specific sites or you can turn it off completely from the Applications and Websites page. This will prevent these partners from receiving your information through instant personalization, including what's visible to everyone.
- Search"Public search" on the Applications and Websites page controls whether people who enter your name in a search engine will see a preview of your Facebook profile. It also controls whether things you've specifically chosen to share with everyone show up in searches on and off Facebook.
- Protecting minorsWe are committed to protecting minors who use Facebook. Until their eighteenth birthday, minors don't have public search listings created for them, and the visibility of their information is limited to friends of friends and networks, even if they've chosen to make it available to everyone. This does not apply to name, profile picture, gender and networks, which are visible to everyone so real world friends can recognize them.