According to the findings of a new survey by IT security company Sophos, online privacy is one of the most “sensitive” issues for users of the popular social networking site Facebook.

The Sophos survey was undertaken after Facebook proposed several changes to its privacy policy in March this year. As per the proposal, the change in Facebook’s privacy policy will make the users’ personal information easily accessible by “pre-approved” third-party websites; thereby offsetting the users’ initial perception that the social networking site will not share their details.

Revealing that most of the Facebook users oppose the company’s plans of initiating changes to its privacy policy, the survey – which involved nearly 680 readers at the Sophos website and the Facebook page - found that nearly
95 percent of the Facebook users opine that the privacy changes are “a bad thing.”

Furthermore, only 2 percent of the respondents showed support for the privacy changes; while 3 percent of them had no clue about the changes proposed by Facebook.

Commenting on the findings of the survey, Sophos’ senior technology consultant Graham Cluley said: “The results of this poll send out a very clear message to Facebook - its users aren't happy. The onus should not be on Facebook users to 'opt out' of this new feature but to 'opt in'--making a conscious choice to engage, rather than having to make a conscious decision to decline.”