Earlier this week, Facebook and its VR subsidiary Oculus modified their privacy tools to be prepared for the new privacy regulations of the EU. The new regulations will be begin May 2018. These changes will affect many users around the world. However, the social media giant also separated its privacy regimen to ensure that users outside EU are not covered by these new guidelines.
The GDPR Guidelines of the European Union will be in effect beginning May 25. The new guidelines require companies to obtain permission before collecting data from consumers. The GDPR also gives right to consumers to know what companies know about them. And finally, consumers can request companies to delete data that companies have stored.
As a preparation for this, Facebook has announced lot of changes this week. The company will be asking its users to review some of its privacy settings, including the consent to use third party data to deliver personalized ads on the platform. Additionally, the company has promised to deliver special protections for its users who are below 18 years of age.
Oculus, the virtual reality arm of Facebook, also announced a few changes. These include a new privacy section on its website to provide easy access of privacy settings to users as well as an option to download all the data that was previously shared. The VR subsidiary is also set to update its terms of service and privacy policy to more clearly explain relevant policies.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who was in the hot seat recently, has committed to bring GDPR-compliant tools to all of its users. Zuckerberg said, “We intend to make all the controls and settings available everywhere, not just in Europe. Overall, regulations like the GDPR are very positive.”
