LONDON: Meta announced on Thursday a redesign of its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service with the aim of making it easier and clearer for users to understand how Meta collects, uses and shares data.
According to Rob Sherman, deputy chief privacy officer at Meta, the redesign allows users to learn more about Meta’s privacy rules and service terms in a more accessible way.
While the text and design look different, the update does not change Meta’s privacy laws and practices regarding how the platform collects, uses or shares user data.
“We rewrote the document bringing the language from a college level to secondary school comprehension,” explained Sherman. “To do that, we used shorter sentences, more plain language, and more embedded examples.
“We also redesigned it, making it easier to navigate with bold colors and design cues and breaking the text up with images and even some videos.
“The redesign is really all about making our existing practices easier to understand and navigate, including new privacy controls, allowing people to make informed decisions using those controls,” Sherman added.
Taking effect on July 26, Meta will start rolling out notifications from Thursday to let users know about the update.
According to a Meta blog post, the updated Meta Privacy Policy covers Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and other Meta Products but does not cover WhatsApp, Workplace, Free Basics and Messenger Kids.
The policy is also translated into over 60 languages, and users will be notified periodically of the update but are not required to take any action to continue using Meta products.
In addition to the Privacy Policy update, Meta announced a similar update of its Terms of Service, allowing users to access this information in a more accessible and transparent way.
For example, more information will be provided to users when Meta disables or terminates accounts that violate its community standards.
