Facebook wants to make sure you know your privacy options

Facebook privacy
Facebook's Privacy Checkup has an adorable dinosaur mascot

Privacy is, quite understandably, a big concern for Facebook users, and the social network is rolling out a new tool to help you sort through your options.

Facebook users will begin to see the "Privacy Checkup" pop-up appear on their News Feeds over the next few weeks. Alternately you can access it manually through the "privacy shortcuts" button near your notifications on the top of the page.

The process is optional, but if you choose to embark on it the Facebook Privacy Checkup will walk you through a number of steps that will help you determine exactly who can see what you post on Facebook.

The new Privacy Checkup mirrors a similar feature Facebook rolled out when it was updating its privacy settings for new users back in May, and even uses the same adorable dinosaur as a sort of privacy mascot pulling the levers behind the scenes.

Rawr

Facebook's privacy problems have at times been so bad that the FTC felt the need to step in.

But the site appears to be taking steps to make users feel more secure when posting photos and statuses, the latest being the Privacy Checkup, which should help new and long-time Facebook users alike.

The Privacy Checkup uses three steps to help you secure your Facebook feed. The first concerns users' post settings, the second lets you review what apps you've signed into with Facebook and their individual permissions, and the third includes privacy of various details of your profile.

Facebook published a handy video explaining the Privacy Checkup and everything it does, so watch that if you want to know more before you actually get to use it yourself.

Michael Rougeau

Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.


Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.