I wish they would give more clarity on what 'delete' means. Is it
a) It's deleted from your timeline etc
or
b) It is really deleted from Facebook's servers<p>If it's a) then that's either a 'hidden' toggle which does not meet GDPR needs. If it's a 'hidden' and do not process further, it is questionable (unless a right to be forgotten is invoked).<p>Also if it's a) then everything is discoverable by someone with legal authority, even years after you believe you have deleted it.
It's not clear from the text of the post, but I believe most of these features/redesigns have yet to be released -- that is, they aren't in the most recent iOS update, which was yesterday:<p>> <i>...we’re taking additional steps in the coming weeks to put people more in control of their privacy. Most of these updates have been in the works for some time, but the events of the past several days underscore their importance.</i><p>I guess it's confusing because these updates/steps are talked about in the present tense, e.g. "<i>Some people want to delete things they’ve shared in the past, while others are just curious about the information Facebook has. So we’re introducing Access Your Information...</i>"<p>Something like, <i>"Expect to see these updates in the coming weeks"</i> would have made things clearer.
Anyone who has requested a copy of "your Facebook data" did the data you got include a listing of which websites with embedded "Like" buttons you visited?<p>Presumably Facebook <i>has</i> this data, for people who are logged in with the same browser at the same time as they visit any page having a Like button. No need to click the button.<p>The question is whether Facebook is keeping the existence of this data hidden from people who request a copy of the data Facebook has on them.
I find it somewhere between amusing and disingenuous that their call to action doesn't link to the tools they are trying to promote.<p>The only links in the article body are to a post from Zuckerberg and to "Ad preferences" - nothing about how to get to the new-and-improved privacy tools.
FB seems to be using these tools as an engagement hook, ie. find the users they know are not engaged or lurking then lure them in with targeted emails about face recognition and privacy features. They probably love all the publicity as it gets people back in app to configure their privacy settings. I also suspect that the privacy settings' backends are 'being figured out' and users are just turning knobs that aren't connected to anything.
"It's time to <blah blah blah dishonest projection of fake sincerity bullsh*t>"<p>Whenever I read marketing sentences like this, I can remember sitting in meetings deciding how we were going to lie, but discussing the topic using words to make it seem even to ourselves that deceit wasn't our goal. I often wonder what my life would be like if I'd happened to end up on some sort of a blue collar path where I just did an honest day's work for an honest day's pay, my guess is that I'd be much happier, and most likely better off financially as well.
So glad I only used FB for a few years before deleting my account. I could see this stuff coming from miles away.<p>It just never ends with FB though. I can't tell what's worse though. Them continually telling their users they care about privacy and then going right back to taking and using people's data for nefarious reasons; or the users who continue to put up with it year after year, scandal after scandal and willing give up their privacy.
Aral Balkan has excellent things to say about charades such as "privacy on facebook": <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh8supIUj6c#t=34m10s" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh8supIUj6c#t=34m10s</a><p>All in all, this is a great talk, I highly recommend you watch from start.
Facebook, if you're reading this, please give me a control that allows me to automatically delete everything I do on Facebook except for the last N days (where N can be freely chosen by the user).
The irony is that this was built so Facebook can be more compliant with GDPR.<p>They hinted this January that they would release this soon:<p>> “We’re rolling out a new privacy center globally that will put the core privacy settings for Facebook in one place and make it much easier for people to manage their data,” Sandberg said at a Facebook event in Brussels on Tuesday.<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-sandberg-privacy/facebook-to-hand-privacy-controls-to-users-ahead-of-eu-law-idUSKBN1FC1Q6" rel="nofollow">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-sandberg-privacy...</a><p>So I guess the takeaway here is that privacy regulation works?<p>I also just love how they put it in their post:<p>> <i>People have also told us that information about privacy, security, and ads should be much easier to find.</i><p>Really, Facebook? People have just told you that? Are you freaking kidding me? People have been telling you that for a god damn <i>decade</i>. But you <i>chose</i> to ignore it, because you didn't care - until this major scandal was created that <i>forced</i> you to do this. It wasn't because "people told you" and as a company that "always listens to its users" (ha! good one), you decided to actually do that. Come on.<p>Facebook's tone throughout this entire scandal has been nothing but condescending. And yes, they really do think we're all idiots (as proven by how they responded on every other past screw-up and how they typically come out and lie about it):<p><a href="https://mondaynote.com/mark-zuckerberg-thinks-were-idiots-638c64dfab12" rel="nofollow">https://mondaynote.com/mark-zuckerberg-thinks-were-idiots-63...</a><p>Remember how they outright <i>lied</i> about the datr cookie being a "bug" for <i>years</i>, until they finally admitted in a Brussels court that the cookie has always been there <i>on purpose</i>, but as a "security feature" (another lie) ? I do:<p><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/its-complicated-facebooks-history-of-tracking-you" rel="nofollow">https://www.propublica.org/article/its-complicated-facebooks...</a><p>Facebook's leadership is full of pathological liars, and they're always looking for another "angle" to get out of the latest scandal and come out ahead. Like how Zuckerberg put out full page ads with his "message" in multiple UK papers, so he doesn't have to go and testify before the committee. Despicable people. I used to think Uber was alone in its own class of evil companies, but Facebook is starting to fit the very same class of companies.
"Today Facebook finally started to roll out a new set of privacy controls. These tools, many months in the making, are designed to help simplify the site's notoriously confusing privacy options. But alongside them Facebook is also rolling out a "Transition Tool" that promotes Everyone updates as the <i>new default</i>. In other words, Facebook is giving up its reputation as a `private' social network - <i>where the default is to restrict access to everything that is shared</i> - in favor of something that can challenge Twitter head on."<p>...<p>"If you delete "everyone" content that you posted on Facebook, we will remove it from your Facebook profile, but have <i>no control over its use outside of Facebook</i>."<p>Source:
<a href="https://beta.techcrunch.com/2009/12/09/facebook-privacy/" rel="nofollow">https://beta.techcrunch.com/2009/12/09/facebook-privacy/</a>
Too little too late FB. You knew exactly what you were doing when you made them difficult to find in the first place. Now you're sorry because everyone realized it? Get bent. Delete your FB/Whatsapp/Instagram/whatever owned by FB. It's the only fair response.