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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.