How to update your privacy for Facebook Places

It’s now been over a week since Facebook launched their location-based product, Places. If you’re looking for a good resource on Facebook Places, check out Tomer Tishgarten’s essential guide for marketers and developers on his blog.

Privacy seems to always be a hot topic with any new update from Facebook (big surprise). With Facebook Places, several of the settings are already enabled that you might not be aware of. Below are some common questions you might have about Facebook Places and steps you can take to update your privacy settings.

How can I control who can see the Places I’ve visited?

Similar to how you can control who can see your posts, photos, etc., you can customize who can see your check-ins. Go to the main Privacy Settings page and click the “Customize settings” link. Select the drop-down menu next to “Places I check in.” From there, you can decide who gets to see your check-ins, whether it be everyone, or just friends, or a customized list of friends.

How can I control whether I appear in the “People Here Now” list?

At each Place page within Facebook, there is a “People Here Now” section that lists those Facebook users who have checked in. So, if you checked in to a Starbucks, you could see a list of people who have are there now and they wouldn’t necessarily be your Facebook friends. You can enable or disable your inclusion in “People Here Now” after you check in at a Place by navigating to the main Privacy Settings page and clicking the “Customize settings” link at the bottom of the page. From there, just uncheck the “Enable” box next to “Include me in People Here Now after I check in” if you do not want to be included in this list.

What if I don’t want my friends checking me in to Places?

Only your confirmed friends on Facebook are allowed to tag you at a Place, but you can adjust this setting. To do this, just go to the main Privacy Settings page and clicking the “Customize settings” link at the bottom of the page. Then, simply choose “Disabled” in the dropdown box next to “Friends can check me into Places.”

How concerned are you with your privacy when using Facebook Places? Do you plan on (or have you) disabling most of these features?

If you have further questions about Facebook Places, check out their Places FAQ page.