TechLife Australia – September 2019

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INMARCHTHISyear,Facebookreleaseda
toolcalled“WhyamI seeingthis?”,which
alloweduserstotakea deeperlookat the
adstheywerebeingshownandthereason
theywerebeingtargeted.
Theservicewascreatedinresponseto
thepublicoutcryfollowingeventslikethe
CambridgeAnalyticascandal,which
raisedconcernsabouttheabuseofuser
databygianttechcompanies and the lack
ofprivacythatit entails.
Today,Facebook
hasannouncedthat
it’sfurtherimproved
thetool,claimingto
haveincreasedthe
amountof
transparencyoffered
overall.Thisincludes
muchmoreintricate
detailonthereason
forbeingtargeted,a
clearerlistofthe
companiesthatown
andsellyourdata,anda directlinktoa
pagewhereyoucanchangeyourtargeting
preferences,includingtheability to opt out
entirely in certain instances.

SO...WHYAMI SEEINGTHIS?

Thefeatureisrelativelyeasytoaccess.When

younoticeanadinyourFacebookfeed,

clickingonthethreedotsinthetopright

cornerofit allowsyoutoaccessa “WhyamI

seeingthis?”screen.

Previously,thisareawouldshowyouone

ortworeasonsfortheadbeingtargetedat

you.Thereasonsgivenwereoftenrather

vague,perhapspointingoutthatyou’reinan

appropriate demographictobetargeted,or

thatyouhad

visitedthewebsite

oftheproduct

beingadvertised.

Withthe

update,thelistof

reasonswill

reportedlybemore

specificand

complete,offering

upparticular

details,suchasthe

pagesthatyou

havelikedorintereststhatyouhavelisted,

andhowthishasinfluencedthetargeting.

Thisimprovedpagewillalsoshowyou

exactlywherethisinformationcamefrom

and gives you more direct controls for either

hidingadsfromthissourceoradjusting the

controlthisadvertiserhas.

HOWDOI OPTOUT?

Despitetheapparentimprovementstothe

clarityoftheseoptions,it’sstilla rather

labyrinthineprocesstoaccessthesettings,

althoughonceyouhavenavigatedtothe

appropriatepage,thedetailsonofferare

morethorough.

Inordertoviewwhichmarketing

companiesanddatabrokershaveyour

informationandaresellingit toadvertisers,

headtoSettings> Ads> Advertisersand

Businesses> “Whohaveuploadedand

shareda listwithyourinfo”.

Thisshowsyoua listofallthecompanies

withyourpersonaldata,fromwhichpoint

youcanselect‘Viewdetails’oneachone

and,forthoseusersthathavereceivedthe

update,openthe‘Privacyoptions’taband

optout.

Whiletheupdateis nowlive,it isn’tyet

availabletoeveryone.Facebookhasn’t

explicitlystatedwhenit willbecome

availabletoeveryuser,butit’sexpected to

slowlyrolloutinfull over the

coming weeks.

HOTSPOT

NEED TO KNOW

Facebook now provides more info

about targeted ads

IMPROVED TRANSPARENCY IN “WHY AM I SEEING THIS?” TOOL.

DESPITETHEAPPARENT

IMPROVEMENTSTOTHE

CLARITYOFTHESEOPTIONS,IT’S

STILLARATHERLABYRINTHINE

PROCESSTOACCESSTHE

SETTINGS,ALTHOUGHONCEYOU

HAVENAVIGATEDTOTHE

APPROPRIATEPAGE,THE

DETAILSONOFFERAREMORE

THOROUGH.