How Facebook’s new ‘ad preference’ policy is threatening your privacy

Status
Not open for further replies.

trainbus120

Level 10
Thread author
Verified
Sep 12, 2013
454
Last Thursday, Facebook announced some significant changes, announcing that it would allow users to choose what ads they wanted to see on the social networking site.



Facebook wrote in its blog, that it was introducing “ad preferences, a new tool accessible from every ad on Facebook that explains why you’re seeing a specific ad and lets you add and remove interests that we use to show you ads.” Basically this means that every time Facebook shows you an ad you find particularly annoying, for say baby products, you can now go into ad preferences and remove it.



And while all of this may sound good on the surface, it comes, as these things often do, with a catch. Read this portion of the Facebook blog:





“We will also include information from some of the websites and apps you use. This is a type of interest-based advertising, and many companies already do this.” In short, your browsing habits on any site or mobile app with a Facebook like button (who doesn’t have that nowadays) can also be viewed by Facebook and thus used for advertising data. Google and Yahoo already do this kind of tracking, Pinterest and Twitter don’t.



According to the blog however, “You can opt out of this type of ad targeting in your web browser using the industry-standard Digital Advertising Alliance opt out, and on your mobile devices using the controls that iOS and Android provide.” To get details on which companies have enabled customised ads for your browser, you can click here.



However Facebook will not be honouring the ‘do-not-track’ setting on web browsers, which is what makes things a little complicated and worrisome where user privacy and data is concerned. According to AdAge, a Facebook spokesman said the company is doing so “because currently there is no industry consensus.”



The do-not-track setting (which is supported on Firefox, Safari, Chrome) is a header field that requests that a web application disable either its tracking or cross-site user tracking of an individual user.The problem with Facebook’s new ad settings is that it is “using the passive data — where users go on their PCs and phones — to make its own ads smarter,” notes the report on AdAge.



Brian Boland, Facebook’s VP-ads product marketing, told the website that for now the company won’t be “adding users tracked via desktop likes to the targeting mix at present.”



Currently the company will target websites that use Facebook “conversion tracking pixel,” according to the report. This is a tool used by advertisers to see if how their Facebook ads doing in terms of sales, traffic. Facebook will also be tracking mobile apps that the company’s SDK for FB services like log-in, sharing, etc.



For Facebook, this is a big change from the policy it was following three years ago. In 2011, when a user had pointed out that Facebook was tracking which web pages users visit even if you are logged out, the company had responded to the uproar by saying, that it using the “logged-out cookies only to prevent spamming, phishing and other security risks.” It had used a press statement then saying,



“Facebook does not track users across the web. Instead, we use cookies on social plugins to personalise content (e.g. Show you what your friends liked), to help maintain and improve what we do (e.g. Measure click-through rate), or for safety and security (e.g. Keeping underage kids from trying to signup with a different age). No information we receive when you see a social plugins is used to target ads, we delete or anonymize this information within 90 days, and we never sell your information.”



As the post on Zdnet article points out, in order to to avoid the new ads, users can use “Digital Advertising Alliance’s, (DAA) own privacy portal.” Incidentally when you click on this it will scan your browser’s cookies, and tell you what advertising networks are currently enabled and will allow you to opt out. You can choose to opt out of Facebook’s new targeted ads as well as tracking ads from many other advertisers such as eBay, Google, Yahoo. Do note that you will need to repeat this for every browser you use if you want to avoid ads from Facebook, Google, etc.



And while the more judicious technology users will find a way to get out of the Facebook ads, the larger privacy problem still remains in place. For now, if users want their privacy to stay intact, they have to keep an eagle-eye watch on the latest changes and regulate settings, according to that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

About us

  • MalwareTips is a community-driven platform providing the latest information and resources on malware and cyber threats. Our team of experienced professionals and passionate volunteers work to keep the internet safe and secure. We provide accurate, up-to-date information and strive to build a strong and supportive community dedicated to cybersecurity.

User Menu

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to know first about the latest cybersecurity incidents and malware threats.

Top