How to Opt Out of Facebook's New Changes

So many of us are in the same boat. Every time the tech blogs update us on Facebook's newest changes to its privacy policy/affronts to our dignity, the blood boils and the outrage makes us want to quit. Then, after a tweet and a couple of minutes have gone by, we realize we're just bluffing ourselves. Because work demands we use social media, or because we'd never interact with friends and close relations without Facebook, we stay.

The next best thing, then, is to try to keep up with Team Zuckerberg's quiet machinations and adjust your settings accordingly. Fortunately, even though Facebook is careful to do a quiet rollout on many provisions it knows will alienate the user base, eagle-eyed bloggers usually catch the changes.

Today, for instance, without asking your permission, Facebook made your @facebook.com email address the default email in your profile. (Yeah, you've got one. If anybody ever actually emailed to it, the message would go into your Facebook messages inbox.) Sam Biddle at Gizmodo explains how to undo Facebook's latest bit of hubris.

As its acquisitions of Instagram and Face.com would suggest, Facebook is as much a photo-sharing service as anything. Its algorithms will now automatically recognize your face in photos?unless you opt out. Slate explains how to just say "no" to this one.

Lastly, The Social Network has launched a service called Find Friends Nearby, which will do just that?tell you which Facebook users are in your physical proximity. If you're yelling at your screen, "I don't want to be found!", don't worry. "Facebook's Newest Stalking App," as ReadWriteWeb is calling it, is opt-in only.

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