Friday, August 27, 2010

Disabling the New Facebook Places

ROFLOL...just when you thought it was safe to go in the water...er, uh....Facebook. They've come up with a new way to annoy us to distraction. It's called Places. Anyone can find out where you are when you are logged into it. And it gives the actual address & map location of where you are as you use Facebook. Make sure your kids know how dangerous this can be. 

Now I have no clue why anyone would want to announce when and where they were...when they aren't home...the burglars will love this one! And then we have the sleazy pedophiles  who will use this to track unsuspecting kids that think it's cool to  announce where they are with their friends.

Granted at this point in time you have to actually activate the app for your cell phone...and you are suppose to have to "check-in" to turn on the feature for it to work...right???

Oh conrare!  Another Places feature may allow friends to share your location -- even if you are not currently there and even if you have already disabled self-check-in. Friends using Places can check you in or "tag" you at a certain place. Larry Magid, writing for CNET, explains the distinction between a "check-in" and a "tag":

If you're checked-in by yourself or by a friend, your presence at the location is visible to anyone that either you or your friend allows, based on your friend's and your privacy settings. Your name will show up on the location's Places page, if there is one, so everyone at the location can see that you're there. If you are tagged by a friend, your presence at the location is seen by your friends or whoever they allow to see their posts, subject to their (not your) privacy settings.

So enough of this cr...er, uh stuff already! Here's how to banish Places from your Facebook...*sigh* until they figure out another way to become the bane of our existence.

TO UNDO: go to"Account", "Account Settings", "Notifications", then scroll down to "Places" and uncheck the 2 boxes. Make sure to SAVE changes.

This new Places application is dug in like a tick! Here's more things you have to do!
    
There's more places you need to change!

Go to the Privacy tab in My Account. Click "Customize Settings". At the bottom of the first section, UNCHECK the box "Include me in people here now". Then at the bottom of the next section there's a selection for "Friends can check me into places". Disable that setting.

Then there's one more. Go back to the main Privacy Settings page. At the bottom of that page on the left there's Applications and Websites in bold. Click the "edit your settings" link. From there, click on the button next to "Info accessible through your friends". That opens a box with a checklist. UNCHECK "Places I check into".

It's not enough to just disable it on Notifications. That doesn't remove other peoples' ability to tell where you are. You have to do all of this to turn it off completely They really embedded this feature and made it difficult to turn off. Not a wise move on their parts!


by Bonnie S. Calhoun

20 Comments:

  1. Cindy said...
    Thanks so much for the info. Just to safe, I check all these settings every so often anyway, but this one is urgent. Thanks for helping us stay safe.
    Yining said...
    Thank you! I'll make the changes straight away! Scary!
    Heidi said...
    Thanks for sharing all this, Bonnie. Wow - that makes me mad!
    Unknown said...
    Oy Ve! Now I know why people just ignore some technology altogether...but I'm not going to let it scare me away!
    Thanks for the info.
    Lori
    Jennifer Taylor said...
    Bonnie, Thank you so much! I've posted a link on my FB page to your blog and I also posted instructions from your blog on my blog giving you credit and a link back here from my blog. My goal was to reach people who may follow my blog, but may not be FB friends with either of us. Thanks for the permission!

    Blessings,
    Bonnie S. Calhoun said...
    Welcome Jennifer. It is a great platform but we must be ever vigilant.
    Anonymous said...
    Doesn't turning off notifications just keep me from being told when it happens? Maybe we should leave that on. And, btw, THANK YOU for the info!!!
    Bonnie S. Calhoun said...
    Well Anon...it depends on whether you want to leave a back door for if you accidentally have your email hacked. Then the said hacker could be getting your notifications. Me...I'd prefer to eradicate the whole app.
    Judy said...
    Thanks for sharing Bonnie! This is unbelievable. I can't believe Facebook would make it that difficult to undue this feature. What is wrong with them? Don't they know that this is a security risk?
    Bonnie S. Calhoun said...
    LOL...they could care less! Most 20 and 30 somethings will think it's cool.
    Judy said...
    I thought that the people at Facebook were so-called security conscious. At least that what they say in their so-called by laws. lol
    The Michaels said...
    I'm a 30 something and I think it's cool. Before Facebook had it, I sought this out with 3rd party apps like Gowalla.

    Here's the deal: this (and the other information) is visible to only your friends if you are staying on top of your privacy settings.

    Like a cell phone or a car, Facebook is a privilege that must be used responsibly. But let's not make Facebook the enemy here: you did sign up voluntarily, didn't you?
    Bonnie S. Calhoun said...
    Yes I did sign up voluntarily...and I am voluntarily deleting applications I don't care to use, and offering that service to others who wish to do the same thing.

    And those who wish to use them are more than welcome to!

    God bless
    Lynare said...
    Took care of the nasty nonsense...
    Thanks!
    quilly said...
    It is getting to the point that I am thinking just doing away with Facebook would be easier.
    Bonnie S. Calhoun said...
    You don't throw the baby out with the bathwater Quilly. We just learn to navigate around it.
    Keiki Hendrix said...
    Bonnie - many thanks for this. It is a great step-by-step.
    J.G. Wentworth said...
    Hey dude, I thought that the people at Facebook were so-called security conscious. But think I'm wrong.
    Joyful Mother said...
    I thought people could only see your location if you clicked the "Places" button and "checked in"?
    Bonnie S. Calhoun said...
    No...someone else can "tag" you as to your location, without your permission.

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