Facebook privacy settings to be made simpler

Social network giant Facebook will roll out a new set of privacy settings to all its users starting on 26 May.The company said it will post the details on its blog.

Facebook faced a barrage of criticism from users over a series of tweaks that left its members unsure about how public their information had become.

Some profile owners have threatened to quit the site on 31 May in protest. Founder Mark Zuckerberg admitted the company had "missed the mark".

"I can confirm that our new, simpler privacy settings are starting to roll out tomorrow evening so stay tuned on our blog for more details," said a spokesperson.

Facebook's vice president of product Chris Cox described the last few weeks as "extremely humbling".

Significant changes to the settings began in December, when the social network changed the default rule on profile information. It became accessible online unless the user specifically opted out.

In April of this year Facebook data was opened up to third party websites.

Its current privacy policy has 50 different settings and 170 options.