After huge user complaints, Facebook back-pedaled on some of its open privacy settings that made more information open for public consumption. The company claims to have had no idea users would react so negatively to the alterations. But they did – some even threatened to close down their accounts.

An interesting part of this whole debate, and one that is not readily known in the new Instant Personalization function. This new function automatically connects your Facebook account to your Pandora or Yelp account. At first glance it’s a great tool. You can be logged into Facebook and then automatically logged into Pandora. You can like a song on your Pandora playlist and it will show up on your Facebook account. Wow!

But the thing to note is that by allowing this Instant Personalization you are giving the site full access to your account. So, by connecting to Pandora via Facebook you are allowing the Pandora creators to see your personal information. Contact details, high school, college, professional information and favorite singers, bands movies, etc... 

To be honest, I’m not exactly opposed to this. After all just by having a google email account, you are allowing the Google people to read all your emails and then put ads in your account that are specific to you. This is not a new marketing technique. But it is interesting to note. If you are a more private person, or are concerned about Pandora or Yelp having this information about you, you’ll need to opt out of the feature when you log into the individual sites. You can also opt out of the feature in the Privacy Settings on your Facebook account.

Does it bother you that Yelp and Pandora have access to your Facebook account? Or do you like the convenience of this new feature?