Facebook Removes Privacy Option That Lets Users Control Their Searchability

You can hide no more – but you can cyber-stalk more easily now. Facebook has dropped the privacy option that lets users limit who can find them. You can no longer prevent your name from appearing in a search and you can’t control who can find you on the social network anymore. That particular privacy setting – called “Who can look up your Timeline by name?” – no longer exists.

“People told us that they found it confusing when they tried looking for someone who they knew personally and couldn’t find them in search results, or when two people were in a Facebook Group and they couldn’t find each other through search,” Facebook’s Chief Privacy Officer Michael Richter said.

Richter explained that only a small percent of the 1.2 billion who use the site had been using the setting, anyway. But with that many users, that small percent is no small number.

“The best way to control what people can find about you on Facebook is to choose who can see the individual things you share,” said Richter. To emphasize this, Facebook will notify users when they make a public post on their timeline, letting them know that non-friends may be able to see their activity. At least the block option is still working if you need to stop someone specific from seeing your timeline.

This news is strange considering Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has huge privacy concerns himself – he spent $30 million to buy four homes located next to his Palo Alto, Calif. mansion just to maintain his own privacy. That’s weird even for a celebrity.

Facebook privacy has always been a controversial issue, but it hasn’t been a huge factor in holding back the company’s growth – it’s still the world’s most popular social network.

WE SAID THIS: Expect a slew of fake profile names now that this privacy option is gone!