MySpace Empowers Users With Privacy Setting

MySpace Empowers Users with New, Simpler Privacy Setting

By Mike Jones, Co-President, MySpace
May 18, 2010

The last few weeks have been fraught with discussion around user privacy on social networks. We want to take this opportunity to discuss our view of user privacy on MySpace and some of the core features that made MySpace unique from its inception.

MySpace early on recognized the issues facing a website with a massive global population and we’ve taken our responsibilities seriously. We take a holistic approach to safety, security and privacy and align our product and practices around the needs of our users, while at the same time working closely with industry experts, law enforcement, regulators, and safety and privacy advocates. 

While MySpace at its core is about discovery, self expression and sharing, we understand people might want the option of limiting the sharing of their information to a select group of friends.  We exist as a platform for our users and, as such, maintain the interests of our users as a main priority in our business and product decisions. We respect our users’ desires to balance sharing and privacy, and never push our users to an uncomfortable privacy position.  That’s why we give our users control over their data, following the fundamentals of notice and choice.  We provide clear privacy settings, allowing not only restrictions on who can view their profile data, but also age restrictions to allow age separation of older and younger users.

When committing to a social platform, it is important that the people contributing to that platform believe in its future and vision. MySpace’s mission since its launch has been to connect you to people, interests, movies, music, videos and other content – to be the best place to find new things to enhance your life. This means many things to many people, and allows MySpace to provide unique experiences to everyone.  MySpace’s core value of allowing self-expression and representation of yourself remains true, without the fear that your unique contribution to MySpace will be unknowingly used for an alternative purpose.

We want our users to know we are planning the launch of a simplified privacy setting for our user profiles.  While we’ve had these plans in the works for some time, given the recent outcry over privacy concerns in the media, we felt it was important to unveil those plans to our users now.  We believe users want a simpler way to control their privacy.  That’s why, in the coming weeks, MySpace will continue to simplify its privacy settings to create a simpler, more intuitive approach that gives users greater control over their information. Setting options will include public, friends only, or public to anyone 18 or over.  In making this change, MySpace will default the setting to “friends only” for any user who previously had any granular page setting to “friends only.”  Users can change this option with one click if they choose. 

We remain focused on our mission of making MySpace the best environment for discovery, self-expression and sharing, while at the same time demonstrating our commitment to protect our users by allowing them the ability to determine how and where their content and contributions are used.

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