ReputationDefender
Press Room

Facebook’s privacy settings are getting a facelift.

The social network announced plans to introduce a slew of changes to its sharing, tagging and privacy policies, a move that will have far-reaching effects on how users share information and with whom.

The features, which include the ability to screen tagged photos before they appear in profiles and the option to tag non-friends in pictures, mark Facebook’s efforts to give members more control over personal details, an important move for a company that has repeatedly faced controversy over its privacy policies.

Yet the latest update also appears to be a defensive move against Google+, a social networking service Google launched in July that has attempted to woo users away from Facebook by offering several unique privacy and sharing features. Facebook’s latest revamp underscores the increasing pressure the social networking site is facing from competitors and appears an attempt to assure users their personal data is safe with Facebook.

“Their announcement shows people care about privacy and Facebook is trying to catch up to privacy as a competitive advantage,” said Michael Fertik, CEO of ReputationDefender, a company that helps individuals manage their profile online. “I think Google+ did put them on their back foot.”

Facebook detailed the numerous new features in a 1,200 word blog posted Tuesday afternoon.

We’ve combed through their explanation to put together this detailed guide to Facebook’s new privacy settings–what they mean for you, how to use them, and more.

It is something even Miss Piggy probably contemplated before saying “I do” – whether to keep her maiden name or take Kermit’s last name.

Sibyl just got married and has decided to blend her last name with her husband Paul’s. She is now Sibyl Almonte de Cannella.

“It’s a combination of who we are as a couple. I want to honor my husband as well, I think it sounds cute,” said Almonte de Cannella*

One study showed that age is a factor. Ladies who married when they were 35 to 39 years old were 6.4 times more likely to keep their maiden names than women between the ages of 20 and 24. The folks at theknot.com say where you live also matters.

“86% of brides are still taking their husbands last names, going old school. That said, here in New York City, the number is only 51%,” said Anja Winikka of theknot.com.

Part of that has to do with the fact that women here get married later in life, and so many times have worked longer.

The founder of reputation.com says that giving up your maiden name or even combining surnames can be a recipe for professional disaster. For example, imagine “Miss Piggy Frog” or say, someone who has published papers online.

“They may have 50 papers that have been published under 50 articles for a journalist under a maiden name. They may be giving that up if they decided to change their name online as well,” warned Michael Fertik of ReputationDefender.

Heather Levine says “I do” in two weeks, and will stick with her maiden name professionally. However, to the rest of the world, she will be Heather Ajiashvili.

“It’s part of his heritage, part of who he is, so that’s one of the reasons I want to take it. It’s also one of the reasons I love it and once you learn how to say it, it rolls off of your tongue,” said Levine.

In May, Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall tweeted about the death of Osama bin Laden, which cost him an endorsement deal with Champion.

The tweet said, “It’s amazing how people can hate a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side.”

Experts said while Mendenhall’s case is extreme, people’s online reputation can be detrimental in the work place or for those who are looking for work.

“You see this everyday with athletes. They post these totally inappropriate things,” said employee relations coordinator for the career development center at Jewish Family and Children Services, Patrick Ferraro.

Ferraro specialized in job placement and said job seeker should also think twice about what they post online.

“They [employers] do a lot of different types of background checks and I think exploring these things thoroughly is definitely one of them. So, if you have a blog and you’re a job seeker, be very careful what you put on that blog because it can come back and really be very detrimental to your chances of getting an opportunity,” Ferraro said. “We even heard of people losing their jobs over this.”

Ferraro said even students should be cautious with their online posts.

“College recruiters check Facebook and if they see things that are inappropriate, that brings into question that student’s judgment and their ability to be accountable. It could impact an individual going to the school they want to go to,” said Ferraro.

Cleaning up an online image has become big business. The creator of ReputationDefender, Michael Fertik, said people are seeking out his help to clean up personal social networking sites.

“You can decide if it’s too personal, too intimate, and if it is too personal or too intimate there are things that you can do about it,” Fertik said.

The proliferation of daily deals sites offering as much as 80% off items such as gym memberships, spa treatments and vacation getaways, has made the process of getting a bargain as simple as a click.

But with some bargain sites altering their privacy policies and demanding more information from users, experts are cautioning consumers that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

“Honestly, it’s not clear how they are going to use the data, only they know,” says Michael Fertik, CEO of Repuation.com. “Groupon’s original privacy policy said they weren’t going to use their customers’ data, and now they are.”

Last week, Groupon announced that it will share consumers’ purchasing data, as well as geological-location information with its partners, which Groupon says is simply a step toward offering consumers more deals targeted to their interests and location.

In an e-mail dated July 10, sent to customers notifying them of the changes, Groupon wrote:

“We want to let you know that we’ve updated both our Privacy Statement and our Terms of Use. These new terms, which affect all Groupon users, accommodate our new products and services that allow us to offer you more relevant deals…[and] address how we are partnering with companies to offer users new deal categories…”

According to Fertik, companies are facing pressure to share more information with their marketing partners to make themselves more attractive to investors.

Groupon filed papers for an initial public offering in early June and Living Social appears to be not far behind. Networking site LinkedIn (LNKD) went public in May and its shares more than doubled in their debut.

“Based on all the feedback we’ve been seeing in the media, there is enormous pressure [on Groupon] to collect as much info as possible and then sell it. From what we’ve heard about an IPO looming, there may be some pressure around their business model to try and figure out all means of making a profit,” says Fertik.

Fertik adds that while no one wants to think of their personal information getting sold, it’s hard to finger coupon sites as “bad guys,” because selling customer data may not have been their intent from the beginning.

“We don’t know if we got the ‘bait and switch’ and selling our data was the intent from the beginning, or if there’s been a shift in the company and the changes in the policy are a reflection of external pressures.”

In an e-mail to FOX Business Network, Groupon wrote that the change in policy means customers will receive deals better targeted to their interests.

“Customers have the opportunity to provide more information about themselves and enable us to deliver more relevant offers. It’s their choice,” the e-mail said. “For example, the Groupon app will ask for your location to provide the closest relevant deals. Consumers may not realize that they can ultimately control that data sharing by managing their settings on their phone.”

But Fertik says that the real question is not so much whether or not users’ personal information gets distributed, but to whom it gets distributed.

“Who gets to decide what a ‘relevant offer’ is? Do we want cupcakes?…Who decides?” says Fertik.

Regardless, Fertik says consumers have no way of knowing where their purchasing history and user information with a site will end up. But coupon sites are hardly the only problem. “[The Internet] is really good at getting people to use things for free and then collecting their data,” he says.

According to Fertik, the worst-case scenario with information from sites like Groupon being shared is that our “digital DNA,” which consists of our previously-visited Web sites and purchasing history, can become a road block for other things in life.

“If you’re talking about telling Nike that I bought Reeboks that’s one thing. If you’re talking about telling a health insurer that I like pizza and cupcakes, that’s another,” Fertik says.

Although there is no evidence that insurance companies are purchasing information from sites like Groupon, Fertik says that insurers could potentially buy the information to see how much to charge for premiums, or whether to insure someone at all.

“If I’m buying a coupon for cupcakes for my sister I don’t want to get denied a job because I have a history of buying unhealthy food,” Fertik says.

At coupon site LivingSocial, spokesperson Brendan Lewis says the company does keep data on what type of items people purchase, but the company has never been approached to sell the data to a third party. Lewis says the data the company keeps is anonymous, and although LivingSocial keeps a record of how many coupons are purchased, it doesn’t keep a record of who purchased them.

“We keep data on what people are buying, but not as it relates to a specific person,” says Lewis.

Like Groupon, LivingSocial has also altered its privacy policy since its launch, but Lewis says that is only because the company expanded to territories not covered under the original policy.

Some coupon-buying sites may assume that because business is good, consumers are OK with distributing their personal information, Fertik says.

“They may think that because they have a public privacy policy published online that users don’t care, thinking that if users cared, they would stop using the service. But that’s not the case,” says Fertik. “Users don’t have another choice, and I’ve never read a privacy policy you didn’t need a PhD to decipher. How many people really digest it? On top of that, they’re all disclosing the minimum required by law.”

So what’s a consumer to do?

“Read the policy and know that if your information is shared with a third party, that third party is going to share it again, ” Fertik advises.