Facebook introduces new privacy updates for EU users

Continuing with its efforts to protect users' privacy after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook on Wednesday introduced new privacy updates for its users in Europe as part of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that will be effective from May 25.

Apart from seeking inputs from regulators and government officials, privacy experts and designers, Facebook brought together hundreds of employees across product, engineering, legal, policy, design and research teams to finalise new updates.

When it comes to ads based on data from partners, like websites and apps that use business tools such as Like button, Facebook will now ask people to review information about this type of advertising and to choose whether or not they want us to use data from partners to show them ads.

"If you've chosen to share political, religious and relationship information on your profile, we'll ask you to choose whether to continue sharing and letting us use this information," Erin Egan, Vice President and Chief Privacy Officer, Policy at Facebook said in a blog post.

"Including this information on your profile is completely optional. We're making it easier for people to delete it if they no longer want to share it," added Ashlie Beringer, VP and Deputy General Counsel.

Regarding the face recognition technology, Facebook is now giving people in the EU and Canada the choice to turn on face recognition.

"Using face recognition is entirely optional for anyone on Facebook," the post added.

"While the substance of our data policy is the same globally, people in the EU will see specific details relevant only to people who live there, like how to contact our Data Protection Officer under GDPR," Faceboom said.

"As part of our phased approach, people in the rest of the world will be asked to make their choices on a slightly later schedule," the company added.

The EU has asked businesses and service providers globally to comply with GDPR that comes into force from May 25 this year.

The EU GDPR has been designed to harmonise data privacy laws across Europe -- to protect and empower all EU citizens' data privacy and to reshape the way organisations across the region approach data privacy.

After four years of debate, the GDPR was finally approved by the EU Parliament on April 14, 2016. Organisations that fail to comply with the new regulation will face hefty fines.

--IANS

na/vm