Disable Facebook Places Tagging

Facebook Places was just announced last night and already people are panning the privacy aspects. The truth is that it’s probably no less respectful of one’s privacy than Foursquare or Gowalla.

For those not familiar with any of the services mentioned above they are all location tracking services where one can “check in” at a particular location and publicize that location to their friends. Foursquare and Gowalla include options to post your check ins to Twitter and Facebook so Facebook’s entry into the arena kind of cuts out the middle man for those who post to Facebook. (For now it will only be available on Facebook’s iPhone app and mobile website.)

Facebook’s implementation, though, adds some other features to the mix. The main one people are criticizing is the one that allows others to ‘tag’ you when checking. This makes your location part of someone else’s update as well as checking you in to that location. I like to call this a ‘third party check in’. This is obviously a privacy concern but only for those concerned about privacy. Let’s face it, if you’re participating in such a service then you probably don’t care if others know where you are even if you’re not the one to tell them. Nevertheless this is an issue.

The first time you use Places or are checked in by a third party you’ll get an email notification from Facebook asking you to opt in. Simply don’t opt in to tagging and your done. But what if you’ve already opted in?

You always have the option of removing your tag from a third party check in. But if you want to permanently block third party check ins follow these simple steps:

  1. Go to your Facebook Privacy Settings.
  2. Click the ‘Customize settings’ link that appears after your settings.
  3. Scroll down to the ‘Things others share’ section of the page.
  4. Select ‘Disabled’ from the drop down menu next to the ‘Friends can check me in to Places’ item.

Now nobody will be able to check you in.

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