Facebook To Update TOS For First Time In Years

Digital Chew reports:

On Wednesday, Facebook announced they will be updating their terms of service to clarify what it does with user’s social media information. The changes to the TOS are in response to major business shakeups to Facebook’s business since the last time the company implemented major changes in 2015.

This news comes after the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal. However, the company says the update is not connected to the user privacy controversy. Rob Sherman, Facebook’s Deputy Chief Privacy Officer said, “As head of GDPR, I can tell you that we needed to update our terms anyway. This would’ve happened anyway.”

Axios reports that the update targets three main issues:

-Data policies around new services and business that Facebook has added since the last time it updated its terms, like Marketplace and Facebook Live.

-More information about the way Facebook shares user data within core businesses, like Instagram or Whatsapp. Facebook’s different businesses often share data through the Facebook Audience Network, a combined data pool from Instagram, Messenger and Facebook used for ad targeting.

-More transparency about the commitments the company makes to data privacy, like the fact that it does not sell data on an individual level or to third-party vendors.