Meta rewrites privacy policy but says it won’t collect data in ‘new ways’

Image: Meta

The company that used to be known as Facebook has updated its privacy policy. The old Facebook Data Policy has been changed to reflect the latest products we offer.

Meta is not collecting, using or sharing your data in new ways based on this policy update and we still do not sell your information, according to the company. This update adds examples to help people understand what each segment is about.

After reading through the new policy and comparing it to the old one, it appears to hold up for better or worse. John Davisson, the senior counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said in a comment that the promise that this policy won't share data in new ways sounds good, but that the problem is that Facebook already collects user data. The status quo isn't good for privacy.

Meta has made overtures about making its policies simpler and easier to read more than once in the last few years, but as much as it helps people understand what they are reading, this layout may do the best job of it so far. When people thought the service would suddenly start selling everyone's photos, it was an example of how misunderstanding and misinterpretation of rules can happen.

Image: Facebook

Even the clearest privacy policy isn't a substitute for privacy rights or legal limits on data processing.

The new policy does not apply to devices that do not have a Facebook account. Information on policies for non- users who may be concerned about their information has been collected in shadow profiles.

The Audience Controls on Facebook will change who sees the posts you make. The tool used to be default to whatever you wanted, whether that was Public, Friends, Only Me, or a custom selection of people you wanted to hide it from. Even if you use something else on your previous post, your default selection will be there for every new one.

Image: Meta