Facebook to continue requiring users to accept targeted ads
MENLO PARK (California): Facebook Inc said on Tuesday it would continue requiring people to accept targeted ads as a condition of using its service, a stance that may help keep its business model largely intact despite a new European Union (EU) privacy law.
The EU law, which takes effect next month, promises the biggest shakeup in online privacy since the birth of the Internet. Companies face fines if they collect or use personal information without permission.
Facebook deputy chief privacy officer Rob Sherman said the social network would begin seeking Europeans’ permission this week for a variety of ways Facebook uses their data, but he said that opting out of targeted marketing altogether would not be possible.
“Facebook is an advertisingsupported service,” said Sherman.
Facebook users will be able to limit the kinds of data that advertisers use to target their pitches, he added, but “all ads on Facebook are targeted to some extent, and that’s true for offline advertising, as well”.
Facebook, the world’s largest social media network, will use what are known as “permission screens” — pages filled with text that require pressing a button to advance — to notify and obtain approval.
The screens would show up on the Facebook website and smartphone app in Europe this week and globally in the coming months, said Sherman.
The screens will not give Facebook users the option to hit “decline”. Instead, they will guide users to either “accept and continue” or “manage data setting”, according to copies the company showed on Tuesday.
“People can choose to not be on Facebook if they want,” Sherman said.