Facebook collects user data with the many ways possible and imaginable. Its app requires a ton of permissions, and one of which, is background location tracking.
For users of Facebook on iOS, they have better control of their privacy because Apple forbids any app from running in the background collecting data without the user's intention.
This is because iOS offers three location settings: never, always and while using the app.
When an app collects users' location, the app needs to show a prominent black or white arrow icon to notify the user that Location Services is active.
Android users don't really have this security feature, as they are only offered a binary choice for location services and history: on or off.
But here, Facebook is giving users of its Android app a similar granular control over location data collection, so users have more options surrounding use of their location data.
With the update, Facebook’s background location control makes location on Facebook for Android more like iOS.
What this means, users can maintain location services but disallow background data collection when the app isn’t being used.
Facebook said that it won’t turn on Location History “unless you specifically tell us to.”
According to the blog post:
The social media giant also said that it’s going to send an alert to everyone who had Location History turned on in the past and prompt them to check their settings.
Facebook explained that it's updating location information only to "estimate primary location at the city or postal code level."
Beyond that, Facebook also uses users' location for ad targeting, attribution and other advertising purposes. Facebook also said that it captures user location for account security.
And Facebook is updating how its location data collection works, is a result of the company becoming the central of debates in the U.S.. To anticipate more issues and criticisms, Facebook that cannot live without collecting user data, can only offer more control and transparency to users.
Especially to appeal those whom have grown skeptical of the company in the wake of various data leaks (1) and (2), the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and other controversies.
As U.S. privacy laws take on GDPR-like requirements, whether at the federal or state level, it will be incumbent on publishers, app developers and platforms to better educate users about the benefits of sharing their data.
Through greater transparency and control, these companies and developers can instill trust that has been eroded by the increasing complexity security protections and tracking have become.
In turn, Facebook is also hoping that working under the GDRP laws, would make users to trust the company better, and opt-in to share location willingly.
Read: How Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon And Twitter Comply With GDPR