Facebook updated its privacy policy today, and introduced new changes first announced back in August.
Published on the Site Governance page, here is the CliffsNotes version:
Ads
We want you to know that nothing about this update has changed our advertising policies and practices. We heard this question a lot so we want to be clear. The goal of the update was to clarify language, not to change policies or practices.
Tag Suggest
In our latest update, we explained that we may use public profile pictures to improve our tag suggest feature. By using your profile picture for tag suggest, we can improve our ability to suggest that people tagging you in a photo give you a heads up that the photo has been posted, and the ability to take action.
Your Posts
We want to reiterate that you own the content you post on Facebook. This includes your photos. We don’t share your private posts with others without your permission. When you post, you choose how to share and with whom, and we respect your choice.
Teens
We also proposed an update that we thought would help facilitate conversations between teens and their parents about using Facebook. Specifically, we added a sentence that said if you are under the age of eighteen, you have talked to your parent or guardian, and they also agree to some of our terms.
Back in August, the social network settled a $20 million lawsuit over not properly disclosing how it used user’s information in ads, particularly Sponsored Stories.
Facebook can still use your information in ads, and with teens now allowed to post publicly, it could open up a can of worms with privacy groups.
The class-action lawsuit lit a fire under Facebook, and prompted these latest privacy policy updates.
However, as the New York Times explains, there are still some issues:
While Facebook has clarified its disclosures, it has not acted on two other important provisions of the settlement that would give users more control over how their information is used in sponsored stories. One provision requires the company to give parents the ability to prevent their children’s information from being used in such advertising. The other would allow all users to see if Facebook had turned any comments they had made on the service into a sponsored story ad and allow them to opt out of future broadcasting of that ad.
Facebook says it’s working on such tools, but has yet to announce when they’ll be rolling out.
0 Comments