Facebook releases new Privacy Basics feature for users

Users can now understand their privacy settings better with Facebook’s new Privacy Basics feature.

In a bid to attract some more goodwill from users, Facebook has made new updates to its privacy policy. In an announcement made on Thursday, November 13, 2014, the social networking giant unveiled an updated version of its privacy policy along with a ‘Privacy Basics’ feature that will simplify the legality and readability of the otherwise lengthy policy.  

What has changed?

• The length of the privacy policy has been hacked off from a long-winding 9,000 words to just 2,700 words.
• The legality and jargon of the language will be taken down a few notches for readers to understand more easily. The text will also be color coded to simplify the navigation through a lot of text. 
• The ‘privacy basics’ will be a more interactive feature helping users to have a better understanding and sense of the policy. 
• The ‘Privacy basics’ page will also act as a one-stop platform for users who can get answers to many frequently asked questions, for example – How can I block someone? The page will also have short animation features that will elucidate steps such as, how to untag a photo etc.  It also has links to pages like – “What others see about you, how others interact with you, and what you see.”

So in essence, Facebook hasn’t changed anything radically, just small tweaks to appease users and keep their privacy policy feature in tandem with public opinion. Users can also submit suggestions to Facebook until November 20, 2014. 

Facebook will still have access to all the information it had earlier; track users’ activity, where they live, what they like etc as this information is crucial to its billion dollar ad revenue.

“We collect information from or about the computers, phones, or other devices where you install or access our Services, these include “device locations, including specific geographic locations, such as through GPS, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi signals.” said Facebook.

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