In light of Facebook’s recent interrogation by the United States government and the implementation of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Facebook has had to jack up its privacy settings and protection.
The aim is to give Facebook users more control over their privacy and to make the use of data more transparent. Every Facebook user will be asked to review their settings and read the new terms and conditions that divulge how their information will be used.
Asking users to review Facebook’s use of private data
Once the GDPR law was enacted, Facebook was obliged to inform its two billion users how their personal data would be used. “We’ve brought together hundreds of employees across product, engineering, legal, policy, design and research teams,” says Erin Egan, vice president and chief privacy officer at Facebook.
“We’ve also sought input from people outside Facebook with different perspectives on privacy, including people who use our services, regulators and government officials, privacy experts, and designers,” she says.
Facebook users will be prompted to review their current privacy settings by looking at the following criteria:
- Adverts based on data from Facebook’s partners – Facebook uses data from its partner websites and apps to target adverts to specific users, depending on their preferences, age and gender. Users can now choose whether they will allow these partner sites and apps to share their data with Facebook.
- Information on the user’s profile – People can opt to include their religious and political views on their profile, as well as their relationship status and current city. Facebook will ask users if they want to continue letting the company use this information or if they want to delete it altogether.
- Allowing facial recognition technology – Facebook uses facial recognition software to find photos that you may be tagged in or to inform you when someone may be using your photo as their profile picture. This technology has been used by Facebook for just over six years, but now it will be an optional setting that users can choose to use or deactivate.
Facebook will ask users to review their current settings and permissions, and will not be asking users to agree to new rights or usage of their data. The social media giant maintains that they do not sell personal information to advertisers or partners.
These reviews will be prompted in Europe and Canada in May 2018, with the rest of the world starting from June.
New tools and features coming to Facebook
Facebook’s new settings and updates will include tools that allow users to see their data, and then delete it or download it. This includes a tool to see the information that has been shared from mobile devices. These new tools will roll out in Europe in the coming weeks, and once further testing has been done, the rest of the world will get access to them.
The GDPR legislation places a spotlight on the protection and experience for teens and children. One such change will see advertising being severely limited on the timelines of teenagers. Their default posting options will now also be limited to friends only (no public option will be available).
Face recognition will be deactivated for anyone under the age of 18 and their profile information (such as hometown and birthday) will be kept private. A global online resource centre will be established for teens to answer any questions they may have about their privacy.
“Teens will see a less personalized version of Facebook with restricted sharing and less relevant ads until they get permission from a parent or guardian to use all aspects of Facebook,” says Egan. “Even where the law doesn’t require this, we’ll ask every teen if they want to see ads based on data from partners and whether they want to include personal information in their profiles,” she states.
“Beyond [these] announcements, we’ll keep improving. We’re committed to making sure people understand how we use their information and how they can control it,” says Egan.
___
Discover the latest trends and tips that shape an ever-evolving digital world.
___
Mobimeme offers content marketing, SEO, analytics, social media management and expert direction in the digital sphere. Building and growing online audiences for your business is what we do best. Get in touch with us to find out more about our package offerings and how you can improve your website and following.
___
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Google+ for more articles, videos and content to keep you inspired.