Facebook is changing its privacy policy in an effort to improve security on the social networking site.

The company has announced plans that will give users more control over their information and limit the amount of data they provide to third-party applications.

They are being made after the Privacy Commissioner of Canada spent the past 12 months reviewing the website's privacy policies and recommended that Facebook make a number of "significant enhancements" over the next year.

Included in the changes is a notification encouraging users to review their privacy settings to ensure they meet their preferences, as well as the introduction of a new permissions model that means third-party applications will have to obtain permission before they access and share any user data.

Vice-president of global communications and public policy at Facebook Elliot Schrage stated that the dialogue with the commissioner was "productive and constructive" and has given the social networking service "an opportunity to improve our policies and practices in a way that will provide even greater transparency and control for Facebook users".

Earlier this month, Facebook announced the purchase of FriendFeed, a site that lets people share social media with their friends in real-time.