Facebook Places is a new feature on the iPhone Facebook app and touch website that will allow users to check in to "places" - whether it's the park, the library or the local watering hole.

Before the event introducing Places was even over, we had a new email from the American Civil Liberties Union waiting in our inbox, telling us that Facebook had "failed to build in some other important privacy safeguards".

Unlike other location services, Facebook Places will allow friends to check you in to places. While Facebook will give you the ability to authorize the check-in, the ACLU points out that "'no' isn't one of the easy options". The only option, aside from "Yes", is "Not Now", which means Facebook is going to ask you each and every time someone wants to check you in. While we're fine with this (and actually much appreciate it), we know it isn't for everyone, so here's how to tweak your newly available Facebook Places privacy settings.

There are three privacy settings available for Facebook Places that can help you fine tune who you want to share check-ins with, whether or not you want to be included on the "Here Now" list, and whether or not Friends should be able to check you in at all. The ACLU gives a basic how-to that we'll summarize (with some tweaks) here:

Sharing Places with Friends (Or Not)

1. Go to your privacy settings page and select "customize settings."

2. To adjust who you share check-ins with, use the dropdown next to "Places I check in". (We recommend "Friends Only").
3. To turn of sharing of places entirely, select "Customize" in the dropdown list and under "These People" select "Only Me".
4. To adjust whether or not you're included in the "People Here Now" list, uncheck the box or leave it checked.
5. If you don't want Facebook to ask whether or not friends can check you in, simply select "Disable" next to the "Friends can check me in to Places" option.

Sharing with Friends' Applications? Let's Not.

Another potential issue with Facebook Places is that, by default, it is set to share your location information with applications used by friends. We may love our friends, but we're not sure we entirely trust their judgement when it comes to third-party Facebook applications, and more than anything else we recommend unchecking the box allowing this.

1. Go to your privacy settings page and select "edit your settings" under the "Applications and Websites" title, in the lower left corner of the screen.
2. Select "Edit Settings" next to "Info available through your friends."

3. Uncheck the "Places I've Visited" check-in box.

So Far? Pleasantly Surprised

Overall, we were pleasantly surprised with the privacy settings for this new product; the sharing of check-ins was defaulted to "Friends Only" and the system makes sure to check with you if friends decide to check you in. In the past, Facebook has leaned toward automatically sharing your information with the general public, and this time it leaned toward keeping your information within at least your network of friends. And it does offer the same granularity of control as any other feature on Facebook, allowing you to choose who you share Places information with or exclude according to friends lists and even specific users.

In the end, we recommend simply setting your privacy controls to the level you desire and not entirely disabling Facebook Places. It's the sharing of information with friend's applications that we're not so sure about and, as long as Facebook is going to ask us about friends checking us in, we're okay with it.