Patent ID: 8832567

Claim:
A computer-implemented method executed using one or more computing devices, the method comprising: transmitting, using the one or more computing devices, instructions to display a graphical user interface (GUI), the GUI comprising: two or more privacy zones, wherein the two or more privacy zones comprise a first privacy zone provided as a graphical representation of a first set of privacy settings and a second privacy zone as a graphical representation of a second set of privacy settings, and a first privacy setting icon as a graphical representation of a first grouping of social entities, the first grouping of social entities comprising one or more contacts within a social networking service; receiving, at the one or more computing devices, first user input, the first user input defining a location of the first privacy setting icon by repositioning the first privacy setting icon to the first privacy zone from the second privacy zone without changing a location of a second privacy setting icon that is a graphical representation of a second grouping of social entities, wherein the second grouping is not identical to the first grouping; and determining privacy settings to be applied to each of the one or more contacts of the first grouping of social entities graphically represented by the first privacy setting icon, based on the location of the first privacy setting icon within at least one of the first and second privacy zones, and controlling, using the one or more computing devices, access of each of the one or more contacts of the first grouping of social entities to digital content based on the privacy settings determined based on the location of the first privacy setting icon, wherein the repositioning comprises repositioning the first privacy setting icon on a border between the first privacy zone and the second privacy zone, and wherein the controlling access comprises controlling access of the one or more contacts of the first grouping to digital content, based on the first set of the privacy settings and the second set of privacy settings.