Eboot Campers,

First, let me explain what this new feature means and then I’ll touch on how it might affect you.

Basically, Facebook has struck a deal with some other sites to let them see your Facebook profile when navigating on their sites. So for example, if you’re on Pandora Radio, and signed in on Facebook, Pandora can see what musical interests you have on your Facebook page. They can then offer you songs you might be interested in listening to. Make sense?

so far, they’ve only struck partnerships with Bing, TripAdvisor, Clickr, Rotten Tomatoes, Docs.com, Pandora, Yelp, and Scribd. I’m sure more are to come.

What does this mean to you? Well, it means your info can spread beyond where you feel comfortable. And if that concerns you, here’s how to turn that feature off:

1. Log into Facebook. In the top right hand corner, click Account, and then Privacy Settings.

2. Under the heading Apps and websites, select Edit your settings.

3. Under the heading Instant personalization, select Edit settings. You may see a popup called ‘Understanding instant personalization’. Just hit Close.

4. At the very bottom of the page, simply un-check the box labeled Enable instant personalization on partner websites. This will instantly turn off partner websites accessing your data.

(thanks to my friend Cory Boatright – http://www.shortsaleology.com – for crafting those steps)

And here’s an excerpt from Facebook about your private info:

‘Partners adhere to Facebook’s guidelines and may only use your public information to serve you a personalized experience. Public information includes your name, profile picture, gender, networks, and other information shared with everyone.’

I’m going to leave my settings open for personalization as I think it could enhance our experience outside of Facebook as we navigate the web.

Let me know your thoughts.

best,

corey