Facebook ups privacy and says it wants to Chat

Facebook will roll out more extensive privacy controls today, as well as an instant-messaging service soon, representatives from the company announced during a press briefing at the company's headquarters in California.

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Most notable about the new privacy controls is the fact Facebook members will now be able to choose how much of their profiles are visible to those on their 'friends' list.

Naomi Gleit, Facebook's product manager for privacy and internationalisation, previewed the updated options, which include a new "Friend of Friends" option based on social proximity - not unlike LinkedIn profiles, in which profile information is visible to second- and third-degree contacts rather than the site's members as a whole. Facebook members will also be able to include or exclude certain friends from having access to information.

In December, Facebook added the ability to create custom groups of friends, but aside from sending out group messages, there's not much that can currently be done with them. With this week's update, Facebook will integrate this function with its privacy controls. For example, a user could hide or show private information, such as email address and phone numbers, from friends or groups using the classifications "Friend of Friends", "All Friends", "Some Friends", or "Only Me". This means individuals on a friends list can have specific privacy settings, Gleit said.

Company executives discussed the ongoing evolution of the social network and explained that changes to the site's privacy controls are necessary given its rapid growth and increasingly diverse user base.

Matt Cohler, vice president of strategy and business operations, reiterated a common Facebook talking point that the social network is designed to facilitate better, more personal ways to share and communicate information. Also central, he said, is the fact that Facebook's product allows users to have control over their personal information.

Cohler said: "It manifests itself in two parts in the product. Tools have to be powerful for giving granular control but on the other hand you have to make sure they are easy to use and simple and intuitive. Keeping those two things together has been something we've always thought about."

Facebook also announced it will be launching an instant-messaging service - called Facebook Chat - which should be out in two weeks.

Cohler said: "We want Facebook to be part of your experience all over the web. Our business is not to make Facebook an island."

Original article: Facebook fires up IM, ratchets up privacy from CNET News.com