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Original poster

The Facebook photo loophole

18 replies

UnquietDad · 30/07/2009 11:05

Not too many people seem to know about this so I thought I'd mention it.

You can choose to set your preferences so that only your friends can see your photos. However, this scenario arises. Harry is a friend of Tom and Dick but they are not friends of each other. He's the link between them if you like.

Tom Harry Dick.

Harry makes a comment on Dick's photo, a comment which is then visible in the news-feed of all Harry's friends including Tom.

If Tom clicks on this, he can see the photo and can then browse back and forth, looking at all the photos in Dick's album. Even though they are not friends of one another!

OP posts:
GirlsAreLoud · 30/07/2009 11:07

Do most people really not know about this?

Surely it's obvious from the fact that some random's photos are always popping up on the news feed.

random · 30/07/2009 11:08

I know this ...but I like a good nosey

Original poster
UnquietDad · 30/07/2009 11:10

I imagine a lot of "in the know" facebook users know it, but I'm always encountering people for whom it's a new thing.

OP posts:
navyeyelasH · 30/07/2009 11:13

There is a way to stop this happening in the settings I think. Something like only let friends see wall and only let friends see photos tagged of me.

MarthaFarquhar · 30/07/2009 11:15

If you are "dick", you can set your privacy settings to only allow friends to see albums, and then "harry" will be none this wiser, regardless of Tom's comments. You have to change this setting each time you add new photos.

beanieb · 30/07/2009 11:27

Unquietdad, do you have a solution?

Original poster
UnquietDad · 30/07/2009 11:33

I assumed you could fiddle with the privacy settings, but I think Martha is right - you have to change it each time you add new ones.

OP posts:
Weegle · 30/07/2009 11:39

Yes - it irriates me. What I'm not sure of, does that still happen when (like me) you set your photos to only be seen by "Friends Only" not Friends of Friends? If one of your friends comments in that scenario can all their friends still see the photos? I know I can see photos of non-friends if a friend is tagged or comments but I don't know if that's because their photos are set of "Friends of Friends" - that's the bit that concerns me

sweetnitanitro · 30/07/2009 11:43

You have to change the settings if you add a new album but you don't have to change the settings for each new photo if you are adding it to an existing album. It gives you the option to publish any new pics on your news feed so you can click on 'no' or 'skip' or whatever it is. You can also customise who sees a certain album, I have family pics on my facebook that only my cousins, nieces etc can see.

You can't make your profile pic album private though.

There's a new thing where facebook uses your pic to advertise something to your friends but you can opt out of this in your privacy settings.

BitOfFun · 30/07/2009 11:46

How do I make myself invisible on my friends' friend lists? Is that possible, does anyone know?

IneedacleanerIamalazyslattern · 30/07/2009 11:48

Well I have found pictures I can't view the album of that are friends of friends becuase I assumed that they had been set to friends only. A friends sister tried to view my wedding pictures when her sister commented on them and couldn't see them because I had all my albums set to friends only.

sweetnitanitro · 30/07/2009 11:56

BoF- I don't think you can do that, you can block individuals if you don't want a particular person to find you and you can block as many people as you like (I think, I haven't reached my limit yet anyway )

sandcastles · 30/07/2009 11:58

Actually this is only true if you haven't set it correctly. When you upload pics, the album has a a drop down box that you need to change to 'friends only' from 'everybody'. It isn't enough to just have it in your preferences.

Go into your 'photos' tab and above your list of albums it says 'album privacy'. Click. All your albums will appear in a list with the setting next to them. If they are all set to 'friends only' NO ONE but your friends can see your pic even if mutual friends comment!

I have tested it. I am friends with C. Dh is not. I know that C has the tightest privacy settings on his pics (daughters etc). I commented on his pics, several of.

Went into dh's account (as him) and he couldn't even see the 'sandcastles has commented on C's photo'

sandcastles · 30/07/2009 12:00

You will only see 'tagged' friends in someone elses pics when they don't have 'friends only' selected. If they did, you wouldn't see the tag.

sandcastles · 30/07/2009 12:03

"There's a new thing where facebook uses your pic to advertise something to your friends but you can opt out of this in your privacy settings"

That is NOT facebook. A rouge application did this & facebook has resolved it. It wasn;t pics either, it was 'social information'

I think that becoming a fan of facebook & their blog is essential, then these rumours would not start!

lexilex · 25/08/2009 13:09

you can also stop certain friends from seeing photos. i have a list called limited profile and have put certain friends on this list who i dont really see anymore but are perfectly nice people.

this group is blocked from seeing all my photos. on each album the settings at the bottom have an except from option and then just click on the limited profile group.

i also block my family in the same way from seeing my drunken girly nights out. so there no embarassment and family meals.

OrangeFish · 25/08/2009 13:15

YEs, I knew about it, and it's ten times worse if you tag your photos.

I do what Martha suggest for everyone of my albums, actually, I go as far as customising each of them, it doesn't take much time and to be honest, I like my privacy. I really don't see why I would like my ex to see the photos of new trip with new boyfriend, but I'm perfectly happy with him having a look at the photos of the last friend get together that he also attended. It is just like in real life. You filter the info you provide to people according to their involvement in the subject.

beanieb · 25/08/2009 13:18

gosh - this is a bit of an old thread. I use the same facility as you Lexilex

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