Facebook proposes new location policies, says you’ll be able to tag places

Facebook proposed a few changes to its privacy policy today, and notably it’s taking a much broader approach to including location.
Now the company hasn’t launched geotagging or “checking in” yet, but in the most recent version of its privacy policy first released last year, the company said it would allow people to add “a location to something you post.” They’ve made that a lot vaguer now, and instead you can tag posts with a “place” like a Fan Page.
More specifically, if you read the policy itself, it sounds like other people will be able to tag places with your name.
Here’s an excerpt:
“If another user tags you in a photo or video or at a place, you can remove the tag. You can also limit who can see that you have been tagged on your profile from your privacy settings.”
Making geotagging compatible with Fan Pages could make Facebook’s local pages a lot richer and maybe even competitive to Google’s Place Pages or Yelp’s listings. If you could tag an update or post with a venue, you probably attach comments, mini-reviews and photos to the Fan Page.
Interestingly enough, this follows along with a bigger trend that we’ve been seeing. Foursquare popularized the notion of “checking in” to a place, or temporarily sharing your location. But a number of recent startups we’ve seen are trying to pioneer the notion of “checking in” to other kinds of objects. Bazaar Labs recently launched Miso, a Foursquare-like app for TV, that lets you “check in” to shows.
From what we’ve heard about Facebook’s location strategy, the company perceives of itself as a platform to host a whole range of location-related experiences. While you may be able to “check in” or share your location on Facebook, the way they’ll implement location may not be exclusive of other services like Foursquare. That said, some of the biggest location-based apps like Gowalla, Loopt and Foursquare will have to find ways to differentiate themselves and offer something above and beyond the simple act of “checking in” to survive.
Tags: geolocation, location, Social networks
Companies: Facebook