Facebook Search Update Demands Privacy Boost: Here's How To Hide Your Posts From Public Views

Facebook is encouraging users to double check their privacy settings after the site announced it will soon be possible to search through 2 trillion old posts. Now, users will be able to search for and view anything written on a public page, enabling them to sift through posts from people they're not friends with.

The biggest concern is that because so many people have been on Facebook for so long, many won't remember writings the posts that are again appearing online, the Guardian reported Monday. That discomfort will send many to their personal settings to edit how much of what they say is public.

“When you search, you'll now see the most recent, relevant public posts along with posts from your friends,” Tom Stocky, Facebook's VP of research, wrote in a blog post. “Your search results are personalized and unique to you and, as always, you can only see things that have been shared with you. Likewise, you control who can see your posts o Facebook and it's easy to change the audience of your past posts at any time.”

The change, motivated by a desire to compete with Twitter when it comes to discussing real-time events, coincides with a judge's decision to dismiss a privacy-related suit. The $15 billion lawsuit accused the company of secretly tracking users after they log off the site, though a California judge determined the plaintiffs failed to show how they were harmed.