Meta has decided to up its transparency on how Facebook utilizes its users’ data and is introducing additional user capacities to allow them to be able to control such via a new ‘Privacy Center’ tool. The new tool aims to provide users with a comprehensive overview of its various usage tracking elements.
A Little Privacy, Please
The new Privacy Center, which will only be visible to select US Facebook desktop users, outlines what data Meta gathers in each section and how to opt out if desired. This includes five specific elements.
The five elements are as follows:
Ads –Learn more about how your information is used to determine the ads you see and use ad controls like Ad Preferences.
Collection – Learn about the different types of data that Meta collects and how you can view that data through tools like Access Your Information.
Security – You can brush up on account security, set up tools like two-factor authentication, or learn more about how Meta fights data scraping.
Sharing – You can visit this guide if you have questions about who sees what you post or how you can clean up old posts on your profile using tools like Manage Activity.
Use – Learn more about how and why we use data and explore the controls we offer to manage how your information is used.
Much of these have already been accessible through your Facebook settings in the past, including ‘Privacy Shortcuts’. In 2020, Facebook also added a ‘Privacy Check-Up’ tool, making available privacy controls more overt and better, prompting people to update their personal controls regularly.
It seems that the update was in response to the CNIL’s $68 million fine for Facebook allegedly breaching French law in relation to ‘Cookie’ tracking, along with how it presents data tracking choices to users.
Also penalizing both Google and YouTube, the CNIL explains that:
“CNIL has noted, following investigations, that the websites facebook.com, google.fr, and youtube.com offer a button allowing the user to immediately accept cookies. However, they do not provide an equivalent solution (button or other), enabling the Internet user to easily refuse the deposit of these cookies. Several clicks are required to refuse all cookies, against a single one to accept them.”
It would appear that the sanction came after the CNIL found that these protocols impacted the freedom of consent, thereby breaching Article 82 of the French Data Protection Act.
Though not directly stated in Meta’s announcement, the new Privacy Center controls aim to better align with such regional legislations, hoping to provide more transparency overall, especially regarding Facebook’s data tracking processes and with improved controls for users to switch tracking off if they want to.
The Wrap
For options like these, the effectiveness of such measures mainly boils down to if people would even bother to use them. The thing with issues regarding data tracking and transparency is that more responsibility falls on users rather than on the implementing platform. For Facebook, all it has to do is ensure that such controls are available.
On this note, it’s good to see that Meta is choosing to now be proactive in approaching challenges and regulatory callouts from various legislative bodies. This begs the question, are breaches in data-tracking solely the fault of platforms and digital marketers? Or are we, to an extent, able to be held equally liable? The answer is yet to be determined, but what’s evident is that all of us should remain vigilant and aware of the different shifts in online activity.
Subscribe to our‘Bottoms Up!’ Newsletter. Get the latest social media news, strategies, updates and trends to take your business to the highest level.
Please note:
This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin.
Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.
