Following a class action settlement surrounding its advertising content, Facebook has given itself permission to use your "name, profile picture, content and information in connection with commercial, sponsored or related content."
In connection with a class action settlement, Facebook last week made “proposed” changes to its data use policy and statement of rights and responsibilities. In an official announcement, Facebook published the revisions alongside the original text in attempt to be clearer on how the social network uses the information shared on Facebook.
While the court settlement had Facebook agreeing to “provide greater disclosure and transparency as to when and how member’s names and profile pictures are re-published, and to give them additional control over those events,” the official Facebook announcement gave users exactly seven days from August 29 to provide feedback on what they saw by leaving comments on the post. After the holiday weekend, today is Day 6.
“As always, we will carefully consider your feedback before adopting any changes and we will post updates on the Site Governance page throughout the process,” Facebook said in its announcement.
Facebook policy updates include language changes throughout the two documents, with special attention paid to how users’ information is connected to commercial content like ads.
The following excerpts are from the redlined documents at Facebook. The first screenshot clarifies how information is used in ads, stating users give permission to the social platform to use their “name, profile picture, content and information in connection with commercial, sponsored or related content.”
The next excerpt clarifies how to control the information third-party apps have access to, stating that even after removing an app, it “may still hold the information you have already shared.” Facebook said users can request that the app deletes the data by contacting the app creator directly.
Facebookers used the opportunity to express their opinion of proposed changes in the comments section of the official announcement, as encouraged by Facebook. And it doesn’t look good for Facebook. Here’s just a sample of what users have said:
You can chime in on the conversation on the official announcement, as well as read a summary of changes and view the redlined documents to get a better understanding of how your interactions on Facebook may affect your privacy.