The integration of Meta's various social media platforms is progressing. In the future, the user settings for Facebook, Instagram and Messenger will be controlled centrally in the account manager.
Central settings are intended to improve user experience
According to Meta, it should be easier for users to find and manage certain settings in the account manager aka Account Center. Those users who use more than one of the meta applications should particularly benefit. So probably most of them.
The settings of the three applications that can be managed via the account manager concern three main areas. On the one hand, there are the classic profile settings such as personal data, contact information and account deletion. The security settings are also centrally summarized. From password to cookies, payment methods to two-factor authentication, settings for all three channels can be set in one place.
A focus on advertisements
Meta wouldn't be meta if it didn't also keep an eye on commercial interests, keyword ads. The new feature should provide users with better information about why which ads are being shown to them and be able to take greater control themselves. In other words, Meta is improving personalization.
Meta first wants to update the data on activities from partner control, which is now referred to as activity information from advertising partners. The aim is to make it easy for users to understand how their activity sent by other websites and apps is used to control the ads they see. Meta also wants to make it easier for users to understand what options they have when it comes to meta ads on other apps and websites, outside the meta universe of Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.
More transparency in advertising
Meta also wants to better explain why which ads are shown to whom - and what options users have to prevent or at least change this. Of course, especially with regard to the advertising that they would like to see.
Central administration is voluntary
The new central administration is currently being rolled out worldwide. It is up to the user to decide whether they want to manage everything via the central account manager or, as before, decentrally in separate accounts. Accounts can also be removed from the account manager.
With these innovations, Meta is just the beginning. The Heise.de portal names those points that remain decentralized for the time being, such as notifications, any selection that affects the device, options for interaction and off-Facebook activities, i.e. those websites that pass on information to Meta.
Everything should be easier
However, according to Meta, further ways are being sought to centralize additional settings in the Account Center so that users can more easily manage their settings for the different platforms.
Simple is an important keyword here. Anyone who has used the three meta platforms so far has noticed negatively the lack of cross-platform rigor and clarity in the services and their different forms of use such as desktop or mobile devices. It remains to be seen whether the centralization of the settings will actually lead to simplification and thus the desired improvement in the user experience.
Data protection remains an issue
Heise.de still sees open points regarding data protection issues. For joint management, the relevant accounts must be linked to one another. It is therefore unclear whether there have been any changes to the consent procedures penalized by the Irish data protection authority DPC.
The topic of personalized advertising is currently in the focus of Irish data protection officers. Meta has recently been hit with high penalties because consent to personalized advertising is being sold as a service and thus made mandatory. 390 million euros were due for Facebook and Instagram. For the short message service WhatsApp, which will not be affected by the future centralized settings for the time being, a comparatively cheap 5.5 million euros were added.
Black eye for the amount of the penalty
The Irish data protection authority DPC has imposed fines on Meta twice this week. As with Facebook and Instagram, as well as WhatsApp in a second case, she complains that consent to personalized advertising is unlawfully required and that the GDPR would thereby be circumvented. Meta has to pay 390 million euros for Facebook and Instagram, and 5.5 million euros for WhatsApp .
The amount of the penalty for Facebook and Instagram does not meet with full approval. Noyb association , led by the Austrian data protection activist Max Schrems states that in its opinion the penalties should have been many times higher and, based on publicly available information, has estimated an impressive 4.36 billion euros. According to Noyb, the Irish data protection authority ignored the almost 4 billion euros in illegally generated revenue based on the contested consents when determining the amount of the penalties.
Billions in revenue ignored
In the decisions now published by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) in the two cases ( here and here ) according to which Meta does not have an adequate legal basis for the processing of personal data for personalized advertising, “the DPC ignored the unlawful income generated by Meta “, criticizes Noyb . We were able to calculate this income ourselves within a very short time without support from Meta. It is all the more astonishing that the EDSA did not take this into account when determining the sentence.
Source:
Facebook , heise.de
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