Facebook to Stop Collecting , Location Data and Delete , Stored Location History.
'Fast Company' reports that Facebook will delete the location histories of its users later this summer. .
'Fast Company' reports that Facebook will delete the location histories of its users later this summer. .
The move was announced by Facebook's parent
company Meta Platforms through in-app prompts
and emails rather than through a public announcment. .
Features that rely on Facebook's background
location tracking including Nearby Friends
and weather alerts will be shut down. .
On May 31, Facebook's apps will stop
recording location data and the company
will delete user's location history on August 31.
According to a spokesperson for Meta,
the company will be ending these
features "due to low usage.".
According to a spokesperson for Meta,
the company will be ending these
features "due to low usage.".
'Fast Company' reports that
advocates for privacy protection
have applauded the scheduled change. .
'Fast Company' reports that
advocates for privacy protection
have applauded the scheduled change. .
Reducing the collection of this kind
of data on these apps is great, Dhanaraj Thakur, Research director at the Center for Democracy and Technology, via 'Fast Company'.
However, advocates warn that the major problem with data
collection hinges upon small, third-party data brokers
rather than major companies like Facebook or Google.
However, advocates warn that the major problem with data
collection hinges upon small, third-party data brokers
rather than major companies like Facebook or Google.
Our concern goes beyond Facebook.
The data broker ecosystem
in general is so opaque, and there
are so many actors involved, Dhanaraj Thakur, Research director at the Center for Democracy and Technology, via 'Fast Company'.
They collect and have tremendous amounts
of location data which can be linked to
a lot of private data about individuals, Dhanaraj Thakur, Research director at the Center for Democracy and Technology, via 'Fast Company'