Facebook proposes tighter privacy features

Facebook is proposing changes to some privacy features

Facebook has announced plans to change to the way it shares information with third parties.

The company said in a blog post that it will make a number of modifications to its personal privacy and data sharing policies, and has asked for user feedback.

Michael Richter, deputy general counsel for Facebook, said that the social site is making the announcements in a spirit of openness, and hinted at new agreements with third parties along with a number of slight changes to profiles.

Facebook is looking at the possibility of working with "partner web sites" to offer a more "personalised experience" on the site, according to Richter.

"As we evolve our platform, our goal is to give you more ways to connect and share with your friends, not just on Facebook but around the web," he said.

"After feedback from many of you, we announced in August that we were moving toward a model that gives you clearer controls over what data is shared with applications and web sites when you choose to use them."

Facebook will work with a "select group" of partners, Richter added, and will offer new user controls.

Other changes concern how personal information is presented, including photographs and information about contacts displayed in friend requests.

Facebook has suffered from several negative headlines in recent weeks, and Richter was at pains to remind users how much more open it is than competing social networking sites.

"We now post all proposed changes to our governing documents before they go into effect, and solicit feedback on these proposals from the people who use Facebook," he said. "We think we're the only major online service that does this."