Since the early days of Facebook when we naively assumed privacy, it seems we have succumbed to the reality that nothing we do in the digital landscape is private.
Even Mr. Zuckerberg admits privacy hasn’t exactly been their forte. “I understand that many people don’t think Facebook can or would even want to build this kind of privacy-focused platform — because frankly we don’t currently have a strong reputation for building privacy-protective services,” he said.
But in a recent announcement, Facebook has committed to earning our trust again by increasing privacy measures. Whether it’s because Facebook’s mounting privacy scandals have hit Zuckerberg squarely in his pocket—he dropped from No. 5 to No. 8 on Forbes’ billionaires list—or they prefer to move off the hot seat for a while, their intentions are to shift to a privacy-centric platform based on these principles:
Private conversations
Facebook seeks to improve controls around who we communicate with and the privacy of our conversations. They intend to focus on the privacy and security of Messenger and WhatsApp, specifically, and foresee these being the primary platforms we use to communicate with others.
Encryption
End-to-end encryption is what happens when your date is secured in a way that no one else can access it. Like your banking information. And it’s something that Facebook is committing to with your private communications.
Reducing permanence
Perhaps as a move to protect you from some of the ill-advised moves of your youth, Facebook believes that content shouldn’t live forever. Unless you want it to. So, they are working on settings that will make content expire or archive after a certain amount of time. They will also allow you change these settings so you have control over how long your data sticks around.
Interoperability
In an effort to help streamline your communication with your contacts across your social media platforms, they intend to loosen the reigns on which method you use. So instead of being pigeon-holed into using Messager on Facebook and WhatsApp on WhatsApp, you can message your contacts using your preferred method. The whole point is to improve encryption, especially in cases where you want to share private information, like your telephone number or even make a secure payment. And if you prefer to keep your accounts separate, you can do that, too. While they admit there is still much to be done on this front, the goal is to give people more choice.
Secure data storage
The team is getting prepared to make tough choices about where they build data centers, choosing not to build in countries that have a history of violating privacy or freedom of expression. They understand the trade-off may come in the form of being blocked from providing services to these countries, a sacrifice they seem willing to make.
More to come
While this work is all in the early stages—details are still being hammered out—Facebook claims to be committed to getting this privacy thing right. Not only do they intend to work hard on these principles, but they hope to use their powers to create platforms of the future based on privacy and open communication for all.
Even though Facebook admittedly has some work to do, there is no question they are still a force to be reckoned with. Millions still use it for personal communications and businesses rely on it as a solid component of their marketing plan.
If you have questions about Facebook’s plans to increase their privacy measures and how it may affect your digital campaigns, contact us at Julien Consulting.