Three popular websites have tweaked their settings yet again, scraping up fresh concerns about privacy on the Internet.
Facebook, Google and Twitter have all recently announced changes to their layouts, privacy settings and ease of use.
Most of the changes are mandatory or require users to opt out on their own.
Still, the Internet is driven by those who use it and a little knowledge goes a long way in helping a user decide if they want to post something online.
Here are some key points to help users wade through the murky policy changes at Facebook, Google and Twitter.
Facebook: The Timeline switch
Facebook has decided to switch all of its users, more than 800 million of which are active, to its divisive Timeline layout over the next few weeks.
Timeline displays everything the user has posted to Facebook in chronological order, allowing friends to scroll through content by year.
"You can basically zing back as far as you want to go, right back to when you were born if you want," technology analyst Carmi Levy told CTV's Canada AM on Monday.
The feature has earned its fair share of critics who say Timeline pressures users to post more content to fill all of the white space between "Born" and the "2012."
Proponents, however, have praised Timeline's clean graphic layout, which makes photos more prominent than text.
"The good thing is you can go back to when your kids were born," said Levy.
"The bad thing is: That keg party you attended in college or university? That's also easy for anyone to get at."
Timeline was introduced last year as an optional layout.
Twitter: Country-by-country tweet deletion
Twitter now has the capability to censor messages on a country-by-country basis.
Before, when Twitter's top brass disapproved of a "tweet," the offending message would be deleted throughout the world.
Using new technology, Twitter can now erase a tweet that breaks a law in one country but keep it visible in another country.
The new policy has scraped up old fears that Twitter, which played a key role in disseminating information during the Arab Spring, is becoming more lax on free speech.
"As Twitter grows and becomes a global company, it's moving into countries where democracy is kind of a suggestion," said Levy from a studio in London, Ont.
In the interest of transparency, Twitter has said it will share removal requests it receives from governments, companies and individuals.
Google: Lumping content, services together
Google has launched "Search plus Your World," a new approach to web surfing that lumps content you've posted to private social websites with public search results.
The change to the way Google lists information has been viewed as a way for the search behemoth to promote its "Google +" networking service.
It should be noted that the searches are tailored for each individual user, and no one else will see another person's personal content unless it's been shared with them.
Still, Levy notes that the new listing method will dredge together information users have shared with all of its services including Gmail, Picasa photos and Google Maps.
"The problem is, if all you've ever wanted to do is use Google mail for example, you didn't sign up for this," he said. "Now Google, whether you like it or not, is pushing you in that direction."
It's up to users to opt-out of "Search plus Your World" by altering their search settings.
To do this, head on over to Google.ca's main page and click on the small image that looks like a cog in the top right-hand corner of your screen. Next, click "search settings." Beside "Search plus Your World," select "Do not use personal results."
