According to the Official Meta Newsroom, they made an announcement on May 26, 2022, that Meta is rolling out its notifications to let people know that they’ve updated their Privacy Policy, formerly known as the Data Policy.

Inspired by the feedback from people who use the technologies and privacy experts, they rewrote the Privacy Policy to make it easier to understand and reflect on the latest products they offer. While the text looks different in many places, Meta is not collecting, using, or sharing the data in new ways based on this policy update and still does not sell your information. 

The ultimate goal with this update is to be more clear about their data practices; one way they’ve done it is through additional details and examples throughout. At Meta, they’ve always set out to build personalized experiences that provide value without compromising your privacy. So, it’s on us to have strong protections for the data we use and be transparent about how we use it.

Souce: Meta Blog

Also Read: Don’t delete your messages on WhatsApp anymore; Edit them!

The updated Meta Privacy Policy covers Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and other Meta products. It doesn’t cover WhatsApp, Workplace, Free Basics, Messenger Kids, or the use of Quest devices without a Facebook account, which have their own privacy policies.

People will receive notifications on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger will direct them to information about what to expect from the relevant Privacy Policy and Terms of Service in their region. They’ll also see a summary of what’s different. These updates go into effect on July 26, and people don’t need to act on this notification by this date to continue using our products.

In addition, they have been updating their Terms of Service to better explain what is expected from them and those who use the platforms. These expectations include the rights and obligations described in the Community Standards, for example when they disable or terminate accounts that violate Terms or Community Standards or others’ intellectual property rights or other laws. Some Terms of Service changes match updates to the Privacy Policy, including additional details about what happens when you delete content.

They’ve also included more ways to access controls you can use to experience our products in ways that are right for you. Users can continue to manage their privacy settings at any time and they’re committed to letting you know if we make important changes to how we collect, use and share your information.

Souce: Meta Blog

Responding To Feedback and Evolving Regulation 

As privacy and data protection regulations have improved around the world in recent years, they’ve explored ideas in people-centered privacy design and have worked to make the data practices more transparent. The updates Meta is announcing today are inspired by feedback from privacy experts, policymakers, and people who use the services. The aim for going forward is to update the Privacy Policy more frequently to continue and improve.

Souce: Meta Blog

Privacy Center

Earlier this year, Meta began to roll out Privacy Center as a place where people can learn more about Meta’s approach to privacy across the apps and technologies. Privacy Center is now available to everyone who uses Facebook on desktop and mobile and connects directly to our updated Privacy Policy.

Privacy Center is a hub for users’ privacy questions, where they can learn about how we use data, make use of some of the various privacy controls that meta offers, and brush up on key account security tips and tools.

Updating Controls for Your Privacy 

New Audience Controls: Meta is also rolling out a new setting to make it easier to manage who sees your posts on Facebook. Now, when someone selects a default audience, that audience selection will apply to new posts created on Facebook that they share to their timeline unless they select a different audience for a particular post. This new setting will help make sure you’re sharing with the right people in your community.

New Ways to Manage the Ads You See: Recently, Meta consolidated the Ad Topics and Interest Categories controls into a single control that can be accessed on Facebook and Instagram, covering a more extensive set of ad topics. This allows people to use a single control to set preferences across ad topics that reflect the interest targeting categories advertisers may use to reach them and the content they might see in an ad.