Facebook updated its data policy, and it’s doing everything in its power to make sure nobody gets away with not seeing it and not reviewing it. Because it cares so deeply about your privacy. That’s why.
It’s been an awful year for Facebook. Let me rephrase that. It’s been an increasingly lousy year for Facebook. Apart from the problems related to the Cambridge Analytica data breach, Europe has passed its GDPR, and Facebook has been caught in the middle of a significant shift of attention to online privacy. So, the company needs to prove beyond a doubt that it cares deeply about the data and the privacy of its users – and is doing everything it can to make sure it’s not used without their consent.
In this vein, and as a result of people seeking “clearer explanations of what information it collects and how it uses it” Facebook has been asking everyone on its platform to “review important information about privacy and how to control their experience.” As Erin Egan, Facebook’s Chief Privacy Officer explains, the alerts come following Facebook’s data policy updates, and allow users to review “details about advertising, face recognition, and information they’ve chosen to share in their profile.”
In the announcement describing the alerts, Egan says that Facebook “introduced a similar experience in the European Union as part of [its] preparation for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR),” but now it’s making it available everywhere.
The customised message appearing in front of users in the next few weeks will include:
- How Facebook uses data from partners to show more relevant advertising
- The political, religious, and relationship information each user has chosen to include on their profile
- How Facebook uses face recognition, including for features that help protect user privacy
- Updates to Facebook’s terms of service and data policy announced in April
Egan explained that people will also “see a summary of the choices they’ve already made” but won’t be seeing information about those they have disabled or decided not to enable. Similarly, it won’t ask users to turn on features they’ve already disabled.
If for any reason, users change their minds regarding their settings, they can just visit Settings or Privacy Shortcuts. Facebook will also be sharing more information soon about its Clear History feature announced during F8.
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