The social network has finally responded to frustration over its privacy policies and switched off the default setting through which people accidentally shared their publications with everyone on the Internet. Now the newcomers will only share their posts with friends, unless explicitly choosing to make the post open to everyone. However, this change won’t affect its existing 1.3bn users, who are recommended to carry out a "privacy check-up" on their own.

At the moment, Facebook is facing stiff competition from such mobile apps as Snapchat and WhatsApp (the latter was recently acquired by it for $19bn) that have made discretion a selling point. So, the change to reduce the risk of newcomers over-sharing was made in response to feedback from the users.
When Facebook first allowed its members to share posts publicly five years ago, the default setting was public, which allowed anyone else online to see them. It benefited online advertisers who were eager to glean more information on its millions of users, but remained a constant source of concern for the public.
Three years ago, Facebook was forced into a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. As a result, the company vowed to never make deceptive claims about its privacy procedures and agreed to independent reviews of its practices. Recently, the social network was being sued by a group of parents on using their kids’ images in advertisements without their consent.
Within the last ten years, Facebook has pushed the boundaries of privacy by encouraging its users to share increasing amounts of data. However, Snowden’s leaks have forced tech companies to pay more attention to protecting their users’ data, while regulators worldwide have begun to act to protect the rights of people on the Internet.
This spring, the social network introduced a privacy mascot in the shape of a blue dinosaur, dubbed “Zuckersaurus”. It pops up as users are about to release publications, prompting them to make sure they aren’t sharing more widely than they were going to.
The company explained that while some users really do want to post to everyone, others prefer to share with a smaller group, like just their friends. Facebook recognized that it would be much worse for someone to accidentally share wider when they actually meant, compared with the reverse.