Facebook is rewriting its famously over-complicated privacy policy in simpler language which more people should be able to understand.

The move comes as a response to an inquiry from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which said that ‘industry efforts to address privacy through self-regulation have been too slow, and up to now have failed to provide adequate and meaningful protection.’

The FTC, which has been America’s chief privacy policy and enforcement agency for forty years, has suggested the implementation of a default ‘Do Not Track’ setting which would allow consumers to choose whether to allow the collection of their data.

It also made clear that it would ‘take action against companies that cross the line with consumer data and violate consumers’ privacy – especially when children and teens are involved.’

Facebook responded quickly to the FTC’s concerns with a 26-page report. One of its first steps is to work on its privacy policy, which, as the Facebook Site Governance team admits, ‘has been criticized as being ’5830 words of legalese’ and ‘longer than the US constitution – without the amendments.”

So they’ve come up with three basic principles about how it should be rewritten:

1. It should be easy to understand, even when the concepts are complicated, or it is of no use to anyone

2. It should be visual and interactive, because that’s the way people use the web today

3. It should focus on the questions people who use Facebook are most likely to ask, because that makes it relevant.

The new privacy policy is just being trialled at the moment while they take on board feedback from users. They’ve revealed a few before-and-after shots which outline the four areas they have been concentrating on to improve clarity:

- Related information on one topic will be pooled rather than scattered about

- Simpler wording: less legalese and more everyday language

- More visual, using screenshots, interactive tools and video to complement the text

- Layered information to help users to navigate through the information more easily.

There’s one thing missing though, and that’s an intention to tell users about the privacy policy in the first place. It always amazes me how many people don’t change their privacy settings, until I realise that many people don’t even know that they can. So if Facebook wants to act responsibly in this area it has to start by informing users about the privacy options open to them rather than waiting for users to stumble upon them by chance.

Take a look at Facebook’s redrafted privacy policy and let them know your thoughts.