14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook is introducing a new Privacy Basics section, where you’ll be able to find various tips and guides on managing information on your account to maximize your privacy.
Furthermore, the social network is proposing updates to the terms, data policy, and cookies policy to reflect new features that they’ve been working on, while working to improve ads based on the apps and sites you use and expanding user control over this kind of advertising. The company isn’t just going to push these changes down our collective throats, but rather will wait seven days while people can submit comments and suggestions about the updates.
Privacy Basics is an area where you can find interactive guides that should answer most of the commonly asked questions about personal information control on Facebook. This includes untagging yourself from pictures, unfriending people, and even blocking them or their content. There’s also the highly important guide on how to choose the audience of your posts, something that Facebook has been trying to push forward for a while now, as it taught people about privacy.
The data is available in 36 languages, which should make things easy for a lot of people around the world.
New policies
As for the other updates the company’s policies are getting, Facebook points out that these seek to reflect the new products they’ve been working on, but also to explain how these services work.
“We’re updating our policies to explain how we get location information depending on the features you decide to use. Millions of people check into their favorite places and use optional features like Nearby Friends. We’re working on ways to show you the most relevant information based on where you are and what your friends are up to. For example, in the future, if you decide to share where you are, you might see menus from restaurants nearby or updates from friends in the area,” Facebook reveals.
The company also explains that in some areas they’re testing a Buy button that helps people discover and purchase products straight out of Facebook, which is similar to what Twitter has done.
Facebook is also giving people more control over ads. More specifically, some people found it difficult to control the types of ads they saw if they used multiple devices and browser. For instance, if they dismissed an ad on their laptops, they’d still get it on mobile or in another browser. Now, people are going to be able to make a single choice for the entire platform.
“When you tell us you don’t want to see these types of ads, your decision automatically applies to every device you use to access Facebook,” the company explains.
