Facebook changes privacy rules again, starts collecting information about the other searches, websites user visits.
Facebook has now started tracking users' activity outside its website including online searchers as well as any links clicked on. The social networking site, which has already received a lot of backlash regarding its privacy policy, says the changes are to 'better serve more relevant advertising'.
The social networking giant already collects all the information that people share on their profiles, including their interests and location. Under its new privacy policy, it will be able to track activity outside the website, including details users share with other online retailers.
A Facebook spokesman said: ‘It takes into account pages and places visited on Facebook, alongside browsing on the internet." She added that the changes help Facebook 'to better serve more relevant advertising to you.'
Facebook says that the changes are a part of a broad update that it has made in its privacy policy easier to understand. The social networking site has recently simplified its privacy policy for users, by condensing twelve pages of rules and legal terminology down to just four.
Facebook says that users have been given an option to opt out from the new settings. Users have to click on Facebook's privacy settings page, and choose to opt out of seeing Facebook ads on third party sites and sharing advertisement activity with friends. However, these new changes have been condemned by privacy groups who state that the new rules endanger a users online privacy.
British Member of Parliament Helen Goodman stated, "What this does is clearly put their financial interests ahead of the interests of their informed consumers. They're taking a significant step forward in terms of the amount of information they collect. It makes me feel very uneasy."
Read: Twitter will track other apps on your smartphone to "improve" ads
Source: Daily Mail
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Silky Malhotra
Silky Malhotra loves learning about new technology, gadgets, and more. When she isn’t writing, she is usually found reading, watching Netflix, gardening, travelling, or trying out new cuisines. View Full Profile
