Technology consultant John Quain speaks to anchor Michelle Gielan about Facebook’s new privacy feature and steps you should take if you want to limit personal information shared on the social networking site.

An animated look at Facebook’s evolving default settings for user’s privacy. Go to http://mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/ for a good look at how Facebook has shredded your privacy.

U of M Law School professor Bill McGeveran says that facebook’s recent privacy changes are causing quite the stir from the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to United State Senators to users. While Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg claims that users don’t have a right to privacy on the internet, McGeveran points out that this creates the perfect opportunity to break legal ground on what privacy on the web entails and what it means for the average user. He argues that Facebook’s stance creates a lot of controversy and they should provide users to an opt in for sharing their information rather than an opt out, which is the current model. Chief among critics concerns is Facebook sharing its users information with other websites. Facebook is starting with a few sites, but naturally wants to spread its vision of interactive sharing throughout the Internet. The senators hope to establish some rules of the road in these early days of social media. They are looking for ways to define true consent and assure users real control over their information, McGeveran says.

Open Message to Mark Zuckerberg from Jason Calacanis:

On June 6th we are asking those who disagree with the changes Facebook has made to its “privacy” policies to commit to not logging in or interacting with Facebook in any way. Be sure to log out of Facebook in all of your browsers no later than the evening of June 5th. On the 6th, be sure to not use Facebook connect or click any “Like” buttons: basically refrain from ALL Facebook related activity.

Facebook’s real customer is the advertisers that they work with: NOT YOU.

Mark Zuckerberg has stated he “doesn’t believe in privacy“. In a letter to Zuckerberg dated April 27, Senators Charles Schumer, Michael Bennet, Mark Begich and Al Franken objected to changes that made a user’s current city, hometown, likes, interests and friends publicly available, where they were previously only seen by friends. [source] Recent changes at Facebook “violate user expectations, diminish user privacy, and contradict Facebook’s own representations,” said Marc Rotenberg, who runs the Electronic Privacy Information Center, one of 15 groups that complained about Facebook in a filing with the Federal Trade Commission. [source]

You can help by committing to join us in protest against Facebook this June 6th, chosen for being D-Day. D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. Clever, eh?

The best way to be counted is to follow us on Twitter!

I have committed to using only grass roots methods to spread the word about this protest. It will be through the authentically viral spread of awareness initiated by those who want to be involved that will make this a success. I want the numbers of followers of both the Twitter account and the Facebook group to accurately reflect the number of people who have committed to taking part in this protest.

The best way to help spread the word to your friends on Facebook would be to join our group, RSVP to our event, invite all of your friends to follow suit, and invite their friends, and so on. You can also use the social bookmarking tool above to help generate exposure to the site by sharing it with your other networks and helping it to be seen.