The changes Facebook made to its privacy controls wouldn’t have been necessary if it was complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). European Union will implement the personal data protection measures soon in May this year. Statements will quickly be made like these updates“…have been in the works for some time, but the events of the past several days underscore their importance.” People shouldn’t be convinced that there are any other motives of the company behind these updates.
Users will be given more tools to know who is accessing their data. However, it has not been declared who has been granted access by Facebook. They can easily show the users who might have their information with them already. No wonder we don’t know who is accessing the information. The “Privacy Shortcuts” menu Facebook released today is a very late release.
Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly shown that he is unable to protect the privacy and safety of the user’s personal data. It is impossible to tell if the #deletefacebook hashtag will have a long-term impact on the users or not. However, this new update shows the attitude of Facebook towards user’s data, and it says out loud that they don’t care, they are enough to fool people into thinking that they do. But they really don’t.
Facebook announced that it is ending its ad-targeting program called Partner Categories. This program allowed brokers to collect data from Facebook users. This is a much promising step in the right direction than the reshuffling of user privacy options. When they are putting pressure on third-party ad buyers, it is going to affect Facebook’s bottom line. However, it will show support in the fight for online privacy.