Facebook Privacy Settings Lab: Weigh the Trade-offs
An old profile, years of posts and a dozen menus. Decide who sees your posts and friends list, who can find you, what to do about tags, apps, ads and location, and see what each choice gives up. Prefer to read first? Start with the Facebook privacy settings checklist.
You are Dana Whitfield. You have had a Facebook profile for years and have never looked at the settings. Your sister Priya says "just make everything private", but each setting trades something away. Across 11 decisions you choose who sees posts and your friends list, who can find you, what to do about tags, apps, ads, location and logins. Everything here is fictional. Each call is scored 0 to 10, with reasons based on Meta's own help pages. Menu names change, so the official pages stay the final word.
This is the guided version: a yellow flash shows where to click and a bar says what to do. Switch to Free play any time.
GuidedPress the highlighted Start button. You can edit the names above first, or keep the samples.
Make it yours
Replace the sample names so the scenario and the debrief you export are about your organisation.
TL;DRWhat this lab is
5 points
- A scenario lab: a fictional person cleans up an old Facebook profile and has to decide who sees, finds and tracks what.
- You make 11 scored decisions: Privacy Checkup, profile details, old and new posts, friends list, who can find you, tags, apps and websites, ads and off-Facebook activity, location, active sessions and account security.
- The reasoning follows Meta's own Facebook Help Center pages. Menu names change often, so the official pages stay the final word.
- Free to play. You get a final score and grade, a shareable scorecard and next-step links. A downloadable debrief is available with a paid plan.
- Defensive and educational only. Every person and app is fictional and no real accounts or links appear.
Frequently asked questions
Is this connected to my real Facebook account?
No. The people and the app are fictional. Nothing connects to Facebook or to your account, and nothing you choose changes a real setting.
Where does the advice come from?
From Meta's Facebook Help Center pages on Privacy Checkup, the friends list, profile and tagging, apps and websites, activity off Meta technologies, location and where you are logged in. The blog checklist links each page so you can check the current steps.
If I set my friends list to Only Me, can anyone still see who my friends are?
Possibly. Meta says your setting only controls the list on your profile. Your friends control who sees their own friendships, and mutual friends may still show.
Does turning on tag review stop people tagging me?
No. Meta says you can still be tagged, and the post may be shared with the audience its author chose. Review controls what appears on your profile.
How is it scored?
Each decision scores 0 to 10 and the final score is the share of the maximum. Every answer comes with a short reason, so you learn why a choice helps or hurts.
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