Facebook rolled out new privacy features on Wednesday to give users more control by who sees the knowledge they share. It made two changes: a standardized privacy interface and new privacy options available through that interface.

“In theory, that is good. But Facebook has had situations in the past where they’ve announced things that sound good in theory, but in practice have not worked out,” said Ari Schwartz, deputy director at the Center for Democracy and Technology. “We have to see how the controls actually work and analysis them out.”

Friends of Friends

Facebook added a “Friends of Friends” privacy option that allows users to share info with more humans to whom they are connected through their friends.

“We thought that provided a much-needed option for society whose strongest social connections are not through the networks they’ve joined, but through the friends they’ve added,” Naomi Gleit, a product manager at Facebook, wrote on the company’s blog.

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second new option is the ability to share and restrict data based on specific friends or friend lists. “Now, in addition to messaging and event and group invitations, friend lists can help you communicate by choosing what info you share with positive groups of citizens.”

For example, you can upload your family vacation photo album and share it only with your mom and dad, or only your “Family” friend list. Alternatively, you can restrict loved ones from seeing a photo album that may not be so family-friendly by excluding your “Family” friend list.

Facebook has additionally redesigned its privacy section to manufacture it simpler and easier to use. “We’re always building more ways for you to control your data on Facebook, so stay tuned for more in the future,” Gleit promised.

Facebook’s Conundrum

Schwartz said Facebook is facing a conundrum. The social-networking site wants to build more data open. But at…

Orginal post by Top Tech News