Facebook still dodging the Opt In option?

Following the Facebook (un)privacy furore that Facebook initiated with its F8 revelations, they have now got to that stage in the process where the Apology and the Promise of Changes is made (see our analysis of the Facebook Privacy Foxtrot here). Today it came, in the Washington Post:

We have also heard that some people don't understand how their personal information is used and worry that it is shared in ways they don't want. I'd like to clear that up now. Many people choose to make some of their information visible to everyone so people they know can find them on Facebook.

That's the apology, in case you missed it - you dumb or something? And now, a restatement of the Credo:

We already offer controls to limit the visibility of that information and we intend to make them even stronger.

Here are the principles under which Facebook operates:

-- You have control over how your information is shared.

-- We do not share your personal information with people or services you don't want.

-- We do not give advertisers access to your personal information.

-- We do not and never will sell any of your information to anyone.

-- We will always keep Facebook a free service for everyone.

Cough! You Wot? The systemic abrogation of the first 3 (and some suspect 4) points is the reason so many people are up in arms, dont'cha know! Still, this sort of doublespeak is pretty bog standard Facebook practice, what is more interesting is what they will actually do about it all:

There needs to be a simpler way to control your information. In the coming weeks, we will add privacy controls that are much simpler to use. We will also give you an easy way to turn off all third-party services. We are working hard to make these changes available as soon as possible.

Ah, the fine balance between giving the users what they want (easy and powerful control of privacy) and what Facebook wants (economic advantage from passing their data on) . Still, lets see what actually gets done - that after all is the acid test.

But something we suspect we will never see from Facebook (probably until regulation enforces it) is to move the default mode to Opt In, rather than Opt Out.

So, to help that process along, I include the helpful cut-out at the top of the post.....