Every so often, Facebook updates its privacy settings in an attempt to make them easier to access for users. However, a new change to the platform this week could lead to even more confusion, as Facebook has now “unbundled” its privacy settings and scattered them across six categories.
Starting this week, users’ privacy settings are now separated into categories including Preferences, Account, Audience and Visibility, Permissions, Your Information, and Community Standards. To change them, users will have to go into each category and subcategory individually. Facebook insists that this scattered approach more closely tracks to users’ “mental models” when they’re searching for settings.
“We strive to design products and features with privacy in mind,” Facebook wrote in a blog post announcing the change. “Part of that means making information and tools accessible and easy to find. We’re confident this new settings page will make it easier for people to visit their settings, find what they came for, and make the changes they want.”
Thankfully, Facebook also made its “Privacy Checkup” tool much easier to find in this update, which could help prevent some usability headaches. Still, it seems like most of this update could end up having the opposite of its intended effect.
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