Facebook is being proactive about location privacy after new updates on both Android and iOS now allow users information on what apps have been collecting location data.
Anticipating new complaints and concerns, Facebook has released a new post explaining why the platform uses location data. The post is intended to provide reasoning for Facebook’s collection of location data and to ease users’ privacy concerns if they receive a prompt from their phone like the one pictured above.
Facebook explains:
“Facebook is better with location. It powers features like check-ins and makes planning events easier. It helps improve ads and keep you and the Facebook community safe. Features like Find Wi-Fi and Nearby Friends use precise location even when you’re not using the app to make sure that alerts and tools are accurate and personalized for you.”
Essentially, Facebook is bouncing back to some of their key features to encourage users not to panic about location data collection. While the new updates to Android and iOS are different, Facebook is encouraging users to keep their tracking options on in settings. However, they have commented they will “continue to respect your most restrictive settings choice.”
To sum it up, Facebook has basically acknowledged, “Yes, we track your location data, but it’s for your own good.” An interesting stance to take, and we can only wait and see how users respond.
What do you think of location tracking? Let us know in the comments!