Pinterest Will Now Let You Keep a Secret

Perhaps one of the more surprising aspects of Pinterest is that, until today, it has never allowed its users to keep their activity secret. So whether users were saving pictures of kitchen cabinets or wedding dresses or surprise birthday party themes, they were sharing them with the world.

That lack of privacy doesn’t seem to have hurt the popular site, but private pinning was one of users’ most-requested features.

Starting today, Pinterest is gradually, and in a very controlled way, allowing users to create their own secret boards for themselves and chosen collaborators.

The company pinned the announcement on the holiday season, saying in a blog post by software engineer Evrhet Milam, “The holidays are a time for being with family, sharing great meals, and, of course, surprising your favorite people with a special gift.”

Each user gets only three secret boards, and existing boards can’t be made secret.