On A Mission

Beyond creative ways to communicate and measure social media, there is the vast topic of online privacy. 

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is constantly in the news and has been called to testify on numerous occasions about his company’s data privacy practices. He is also known for his ingenuity. In 2021, he introduced the Meta brand as an umbrella for Facebook, Instagram and connected technologies.  

Today, I am diving into what Facebook says about its privacy standards and the kind of information collected by this social media giant. In a nutshell, Facebook collects everything that a consumer views, creates and interacts with down to the individual user:  

• Profile – name, email, phone number etc.
• Activity – includes all views, all user-produced content, messages, allowable metadata, with the exception of end-to-end encrypted messages. 
• Off-Facebook Activity –information gathering extends to any activity including purchase behavior with Facebook’s advertisers, vendors and third parties, even if on another platform.
• Login – in addition to classic login mode there is a limited login option that doesn’t personalize or measure ad effectiveness. Obviously, not good for advertisers, but a choice for consumers.
• Device and software versions consumers use, including unique IP addresses assigned to consumer devices. Adding VPN can help to hide an IP address.
• Microphone – used only when a consumer gives permission and is using a feature that needs the microphone. 
• Location-related information. Even if location services are switched off, Facebook can access a user’s IP address. 

There are many options for users to manage their account and run security check-ups. The Privacy check-up is a good starting point. I notice that Facebook uses the language “control your information” in the same breath as it picks and chooses when anonymity is allowed. To me, there seems to be an imbalance over who ‘owns’ the data.

Facebook also uses the information to provide analytics to advertisers, communicate with users and for social good. It also reassuring to read an “innovate responsibly” claim in order to detect, prevent and combat “harmful or unlawful behavior” including preventing spam, online bullying and bad user experiences.    

On the positive side, the benefit of all this information sharing is a personalized user experience, including ads, offers and tailored content that is growing in sophistication as the metaverse expands.