Facebook is changing its privacy settings to give users more control over who sees the information they post on their personal pages.
Beginning Wednesday, the networking Web site is taking the rare step of requiring its more than 350 million users to review and update their privacy settings.
The new controls are designed to simplify the cumbersome privacy controls that have confounded many users. Facebook hopes the changes make people comfortable sharing even more information.
Facebook said the changes are based on user feedback, although it remains to be seen whether the shift will mean fewer surprises for people who have unintentionally shared party photos with their bosses.
As part of the changes, Facebook users will be able to select a privacy setting for each piece of content, such as photos or updates, that they share on the site - as they share it. The choices are "friends" only, "friends of friends" or "everyone," which means not just Facebook users but everyone on the Internet. (The exception: Minors won't be able to share their content with everyone. For people younger than 18, the "everyone" setting will send information to "friends of friends.")
There is also an option to customize groups of friends - such as "college buddies" - for certain kinds of updates.
Facebook said that until now only 15 percent to 20 percent of its users have customized their privacy settings.
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