The social network’s privacy chief told a conference audience that if you don’t want Facebook to know something, don’t post it on Facebook. Facebook’s recent push to become more privacy-conscious only goes so far, according to recent reports. The social network now provides users with more sophisticated control over what other users can see, but when it comes to the company itself, if a user posts something, Facebook can see it and use it, according to PC World. The social network’s privacy chief provided this stark reminder at the Privacy Innovation Identity Conference this week in Palo Alto, Calif. “With most online services, there’s an understanding that when you use those services to share information, you’re also sharing information with the company providing the service,” said Matt Scutari, manager of privacy and public policy at Facebook. “I don’t think there are many services out there who could claim they’re not using your information that you’re sharing with them for any purpose.” For Facebook, that purpose is advertising. Facebook is still a business after all, and a business that for its major source of revenue depends on its ability to target advertising directly to its users — based on their location, likes, friends, and the numerous other tidbits of information Facebook collects. The social network aims to be fairly upfront about this data collection. It just unveiled a new, simpler privacy policy called “Privacy Basics.” The new overview boils down what users need to know about privacy on Facebook in 2,700 words, down from 9,000 in the old policy, NPR reports. The guide contains a handy section titled, “What kinds of information do we collect?” The answer, basically, is everything. “For users who are truly concerned with sharing their information with a particular platform, honestly, you might not want to share information with that platform,” said Scutari. Message received: If you don’t want Facebook to know about it, don’t post it on Facebook.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 15:56:33 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015