How can you enable your friends to see your tagged photos while at the same time preventing news feed stories which alert your friends to compromising photos before you’ve deleted them? In our new Facebook privacy guide published earlier this week, we suggested that users block tagged photos completely as to avoid the accidental photo tag disaster. There is an alternative setting however that will provide you with protection while at the same time allow you to share your personal photos with friends.
Rather than blocking your friends from viewing photos you’ve been tagged in (as described here), it’s possible to prevent the Facebook photos application from publishing feed stories about you. I have my own personal story about friends who were alerted to a new photo I was tagged in via their feed. Ultimately, I didn’t have a chance to view the image before multiple people had photos of me drunk at an event in college.
It wasn’t a complete disaster but it was somewhat embarrassing and I’ve heard of instances where people have been outright fired or have lost a job opportunity as a result of photos of them in compromising settings. So here’s how to keep your friends seeing photos you’ve been tagged in, while preventing stories that alert your friends to new photos you’ve been tagged in.
Step 1: Properly Configure Your Photo & Video Privacy Settings
There are a number of ways to configure your photo & video privacy settings, however there is a semi-private configuration which should protect you while enabling your close friends to see things you’ve been tagged in. Head over to the Profile Information privacy page and scroll down to the section which says “Photos and Videos of Me”. You can then configure your settings as pictured below. Select “Customize” from the drop down menu and then next to people who can view your photos select “Only Friends”.
You can then individually remove those friends who you don’t want to see your tagged photos at all. You can use Friend Lists (as described in our new Facebook privacy guide) or individually enter any professional contacts and other people you’d like to block from viewing your tagged photos. This way you ensure that nobody important to your professional life can see tagged photos at all.
Step 2: Block Facebook Photos From Generating Feed Stories
Now that you have the privacy settings configured, you still may want to prevent news feed stories from showing up before you’ve had the opportunity to filter out any compromising images. Head over to the application settings page and select from the drop down “Allowed to Post”. You can then scroll down to the “Photos” application and click on “Edit Settings” as pictured in the image below.
Next up, click on on the “Additional Permissions” tab and uncheck the box next to “Publish to streams”. By unchecking this box, you are effectively blocking the Photos applications from displaying any tagged photos in your friends’ news feeds. You can see a screenshot of the configuration below. After save the setting you are done, with preventing a photo tagging disaster. If you want to block video tags from showing up as well, you can scroll down next to the “Video” application on the same page and repeat the process.
It would give me a lot more privacy if I could have the option to approve tagged photos. I hate it when I’m tagged in a picture that looks horrible, not only because the photo makes me look stupid, but if I untag it, I look stupid as well.
Question: won’t Step 2 also block photos posted by me? Example: When creating a new photo album, I like to have that “announced” in a wall news feed, for friends to check out. The unchecked “Publish to streams” photo settings will prevent such new photo albums posted by me to show up on wall feeds no?
Thanks! This is a great way to keep those embarrassing photos out of your boss’ newsfeed.
Chances are you won’t look stupid unless you really are but there’s no reason to let the world see. I agree.
I had an experience as a result of just clicking the Like button on a nondescript status report! It was jumped on and twisted into something more sinister than what was reality. If they want to get rid of you, it doesn’t just have to be an embarrassing photo.
The best way to avoid getting tagged in a photo, in a compromising situation, is
Don’t get to that situation!
Then you’ll have nothing to hide.
The photos only document what you do. If you feel embarrassed, don’t go there in the first place.
Is there a way to find out WHO tagged me in a photo?
For Marie Frechon; RE: your question…
I think I know what you are talking about. It is the same concern I have. I want friends to see my pictures and posts but no one else. Instead of unchecking the “Publish to Streams” box in the Additional Permissions, just leave it checked. Go to the “Profile” heading next to the “Additional Permissions” heading, then change the setting in the privacy scroll down menu to “Friends Only.” I believe that will solve your problem. This way your pictures and news feeds about your pictures will be shared with just your friends. Make sure it is NOT on “Friends of Friends or Everyone.” I may be wrong but it makes the most sense to me.
No, my question was not answered… how can I find out WHO tagged me in a photo. I was tagged in a photo on a Friend’s photo page. My Friend whose page it was did not tag me. How can I find out who did?
Darline, you should have received an email notification from Facebook when you were tagged. Also it should be in your notification list:
http://www.facebook.com/notifications.php
Is it possible to prevent someone from tagging a photo from your facebook?
is there anyway to prevent tagged photos showing up on our walls? sometimes i dont check it before its on my wall for all my friends to see….
Thanks a lot!!! Very useful information.
Regards from La Paz, Baja California Sur, México
For Marie Frechon et al; RE: your question…
The reason I wanted this feature is that I found it really ANNOYING and I felt like I was sending out too many stream updates to my friends whenever I posted a photo album.
First I’d publish the album, and they’d get a blip that I had posted the album.
Then, I’d tag photos of me in the album… and blip they’d get another stream update about the same album. I found that unnecessary.
So I’m turning off the publish to streams because frankly I don’t care for my friends to get a news update if someone tags a photo of me (they can always click on the “view photos of Andrew”; I just want them to know when I’ve posted a new album.
But I had the same concern as you… so how *do* I advertise my album to my friends if I’ve disabled publish to streams.
**** every album has a “post to profile” link… and this will do exactly what you need.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for this.
Will facebook remove photos of underage drinking in the immediate timeframe of a sexual assault if the victim (who in the photo) so requests, particularly if the person who posts the photos refuses to?
Oh sorry Tony, I totally read that wrong… Get enough people to click the “report to facebook” button and I imagine they would.
This doesn’t seem to work anymore.
All those applications have vanished from the list. Photos, comments, etc.
Correct me if I’m wrong! (I hope I am…)
PLEASE GET THE RECENT ACTIVITY TAB OFF FACEBOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!
I DON’T WANT EVERYONE SEEING WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING ON MY DAY OFF…!!!!!!!!
Are you sure unchecking those two boxes will prevent FB from generating a feed story? The option is under the “Allow FaceBook to notify me by email when..” not “allow it to post when”… How does unchecking the option to be notified by email keep it from generating a news feed? I’m all for it if it works, but I just want to be sure it works, othewise if I uncheck it and FB no longer notifies me by email when someone tags a photo of me, I wont know when someone does tag a photo of me and I won’t ge able to un-tag it.
OK, I have a lot of friends from Mafia Wars, many of which I see a picture of months after they are in my Mafia. I saw a post from one of them that was, let’s just say, VERY attractive and since I am a man, and awake, I had to look. I’m not a perv or anything but men just have no choice but to click on the profile picture. Next thing I know, apparently she has some app that shows who looks at her pics, tags me in it and it’s posted on my wall and who knows who else’s wall. WTF? Anyone know how to prevent that?
Nobody should be able to tag a photo of another individual w/o their permission. FB needs to create an option for this.
Is it possible if someone tagged me a photo on facebook yet you can still see on the live feed that it was my account who tagged that photo? Coz it happened to me today, and then honestly i didnt tagged that photo and i literally asked my possible suspects and still they said no. Also, can i know who tagged that photo? A swift reply would be great, thanks
I have changed everything to ONLY the people I like to get NEWS FEED , I have restricted to 1 single person I DO NOT WANT to show what I post on her pictures.
I have change everything on Privacy settings to ONLY ME
GUESS WHAT?
All remains the same fucking way
STILL The bloody comment I put on her picture remains on the WALL of a friend of mine, and his profile is not even related at any way to hers.
What is FACEBOOK fucking doing?
Alex Wells….exactly, this is what i’m trying to fix…why does my comments on someone’s pics appear on allll my friends new feed and they are know way related to her, no mutual friends, nothing! i already tried making all restrictions i could…
any help from anyone????