New Facebook privacy settings are 'a red herring', say activists.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

Privacy groups gave a half-hearted welcome to Facebook's announcement on Wednesday night that it would roll out new, simplified privacy settings to its 450 million users in the next few weeks.

The UK group Privacy International reacted with "disappointment and frustration", saying that "the latest changes merely correct some of the most unacceptable privacy settings on the site. Very little has changed in terms of the overall privacy challenge that Facebook and its users need to navigate."

Instead it said that the changing of the settings -- which previously required users to navigate through up to 150 different settings to …