Is Facebook (privacy) respectable these days?

[fallenphoenix]

Lately a lot of people have been asking me to connect on Facebook. I used to have an account years ago which I deleted (through the two-week long process) due to privacy concerns at the time. However, it's been a few years now and I think Facebook has seen enough bad PR to maybe get the clue that folks care about their privacy, and I'm hoping that maybe it's a more respectable company now.

I've basically had my head in the sand for the last few years, ignoring all things FB. But I'd like to reconnect with old friends and more easily plan outings with new ones and I find sending group text messages clumsy at best :)

So can anyone offer comments on Facebook, as it is NOW in January 2013, and user privacy? Specifically, no matter how complex the privacy controls are (I'm a fairly smart guy, I can figure it out), my biggest concern is whether or not they're actually being ignored behind the scenes - based on my opinion of the company's past I wouldn't be surprised.

And if they actually are respecting individual privacy these days, do they have any features like Google+ "circles" to share certain content with certain people? Those pics of the girl making out with me at the party last night are great to share with my buddies, but maybe not my boss ;-) (Then again I do have a really cool manager at work...)

Thanks everyone.