Facebook is known to be the first social media to have a billion users. And over the year 2013, the company has introduced many new features for its social network to make people use it more often than ever before. But with the complicated features, people have wondered how they can control all the information that they have trusted to the social giant.
In 2013, Facebook has removed the restriction for users under 18 years of age that previously limited who could see their online postings from photos to musings on the world-wide social network. As a social network that is known to have a complex setting for privacy, on November 13th, 2014, the company updates its terms and policies again to better explain how the company get and use that information.
Facebook is introducing Privacy Basics, which gives users tips and a how-to guide for taking charge of their experience on the social network. This has made its complex and legalese-loaded privacy policy condensed by about two-thirds,The new updated terms, policy and cookies are reflecting the new feature that the company has been working on.
According to the Journal, Facebook worked with members of the Council of Better Business Bureaus to make the policy more user friendly.
"Our goal is to make the information about Facebook as clear as possible," said Erin Egan, Facebook's Chief Privacy Officer. "Our hope is that it won't take long for people to read through this and really get it."
The Privacy Basics is indeed easier to understand. The feature includes questions such as: "What kinds of information do we collect?" and "How can I manage and delete information about me?" The answers to those questions are neatly put together than even the most average and newcomer to the internet can have a better understanding. The update also includes information on how Facebook uses payment data, noting that the company collects information on each purchase, as well as credit card data, account authentication information, billing, shipping, and contact information.
With the Privacy Basics, users can also learn about untagging, unfriending, and blocking, and how to choose an audience for their posts. This information that is available in 36 languages, also include: the explanation on how Facebook collects location information depending on the features that users decide to use, as a test for the Buy button that is aiming to help people discover and purchase products without leaving Facebook, explanation about permissions the Facebook app is asking on mobile devices, and how Facebook is connected to other apps like Instagram.
But while the change may make Facebook's privacy policy easier to understand, it doesn't really make the social network any easier to keep information private. Users have the option top opt-in or opt-out for sharing information with third-party apps, but they don't have the power to control what type of information is shared. The new policy still maintains Facebook's rights to share information to make targeted ads, inside and outside the social network.
Terms and policy are probably two of the least things that people seek on the social network. Even if people do have concerns about the way Facebook intends to collect information from them, most of them will likely to continue using Facebook with no difference.
Facebook has also given a better insight into why users are seeing certain ads. But the company is not giving users the ability to control what information is being taken from them to make those ads "certain".
However, most explanations are indeed helpful. As an advance after the privacy dinosaur to educate people about its many privacy settings, the explanation about how the News Feed works is misleading. Facebook suggests that if a user likes a company's page, they'll see its posts in the feed. But every brand advertisers knows that this is not true. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg also admitted that most posts made by a company will never show up in the news feed of the average fan. Facebook prioritize items posted by people over from brands, and companies generally have to buy an ad if they want to make themselves seen
The new policy encourages users to find out more about how they can control their Facebook account by giving them an understanding about how the company works. And for ad preferences, Facebook is giving the ability to "personalize" the ads they see. In other words, Facebook is wanting its users to make the platform an even more powerful tools for advertisers.
This is their business model, and up until the moment of the update, it will still be that way.
