Concerns over Facebook’s privacy policies don’t appear to be diminishing. Some users taking advantage of the opportunity to download an archive of all the data Facebook holds in their account are discovering a surprise: it includes videos they shot but never posted …
NYMag explains the issue.
So if you used Facebook’s direct video recording option, videos you discarded – and assumed were deleted – were still stored in your account.
There’s no suggestion that anyone else ever had access to them, and there’s likely an innocent explanation.
However, the fact that discarded clips still exist at all is a concern. Facebook says it is investigating.
The social network has taken one important step to increase privacy protections: it is no longer allowing advertisers to use data from third-party data brokers when defining the target for their ads. Recode explains that the feature was known as Partner Categories.
The #DeleteFacebook campaign seems to be gaining momentum, at least among those most aware of the saga – tech workers. CNET reports that a survey of more than 2,600 tech workers by the app Blind found that 31% of them say they are planning to delete their accounts.
Facebook confirmed the move in a statement attributable to Graham Mudd, a product marketing director at the company.”
We want to let advertisers know that we will be shutting down Partner Categories,” Mudd said in the statement. “This product enables third party data providers to offer their targeting directly on Facebook. While this is common industry practice, we believe this step, winding down over the next six months, will help improve people’s privacy on Facebook.”
Of course, saying they plan to do so and actually doing it are two very different things, and CNET notes that it’s a self-selecting sample, where those intending to delete their accounts may be more likely to complete the survey than those for whom it’s business as usual.
Our own survey found that the largest group of readers – some 41% – are using the network but with reservations, while only 3% describe themselves as loyal users.
