Facebook will use more private data for advertisements

Facebook is going to use more private information it collects from its members to show ads. This concerns data that is collected via the Facebook apps and on other websites. At the same time, Facebook gives users access to their advertising profiles.

According to The New York Times, the change will take effect next week. Until now, Facebook only showed ads based on a user’s activity on Facebook itself, such as liking pages and companies. However, starting next week, Facebook will also use other private data it already collects to determine which ads are of interest. According to the newspaper, this includes data collected via Facebook’s smartphone apps and other websites, probably via the Like buttons that websites can integrate. Facebook has confirmed the news.

It is not known exactly what data Facebook will use. For example, the social networking site could read the user’s location via his smartphone and show relevant advertisements on that basis. The site could also gauge a user’s interest by analyzing his surfing behavior. If you do not want to be tracked, you can place an opt-out cookie.

At the same time, Facebook comes with a tool to show users which advertising profiles are composed of them. In addition, users can also modify those profiles and delete parts of them. In addition, with each ad, users can see why Facebook thinks the ad is of interest to them.