When Facebook launched Portal, the company promised that no data collected through the devices would be used to re-target users withs ads. Well, that turned out not to be true…
Of course, it does! – That is what most of us have been saying for days.
When Facebook launched Portal, execs from the company were quick to brush off the idea of Facebook using any data collected from the devices for ad targeting uses. A week later, the story has changed.
Facebook has now shared an official statement that differs considerably from what was told during the Portal launch event. Portal does not have ads, so your usage data will not be used to target ads on the device. However, this data could potentially be used to target you with ads on other Facebook-owned properties. Of course.
So what data does Portal really collect from users?
The short answer would be: quite a lot. Portal collects general usage data, such as which apps you are using on the device and how long and how often you are using them. Moreover, since Portal voice and video calling is built on the Messenger infrastructure, Portal is able to collect the same data than other Messenger-enabled devices and platforms: frequency of calls, favorite contacts, length of calls, …
And of course all this data can be used to determine your “advertising” profile and target you with ads across the Facebook ecosystem.
But, none of this is a surprise, is it?
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