Facebook Privacy Review Now Available in 11 Indian Languages; Privacy Info to Become More Transparent

Facebook on Friday announced that it is rolling out privacy review in 11 Indian languages, starting with Facebook for Android users in the country. This comes in the wake of the company's updated privacy policies in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that will be put into action in Europe starting May 25. In the coming weeks, Facebook users will be shown a customised message that displays information such as use of data for advertising, personal information that users have chosen to make public, usage of face recognition, and updates to Facebook's terms of service and data policy.

As per a blog post by Erin Egan, Chief Privacy Officer at Facebook, users on the platform will be asked to review all this information in an attempt to improve privacy at hand. Facebook was recently caught in a massive global privacy scandal that involved the unethical sharing of information of political strategist firm Cambridge Analytica.

This update comes after Facebook, in March, had updated its privacy controls with hopes to make them easier to understand and interpret. While the controls were first rolled out for European and Canadian users, other global users will now start to see them in the coming days and weeks.

"People will see a summary of the choices they have already made and will not see information about features they have already disabled or decided not to use. For example, if you have already disabled face recognition or ads based on data from partners, we will not ask you to turn them on. We will reflect the choices they have already made on the intro screen," said Erin Egan.

In case users wish to toggle their preferences, the option will be available under Settings > Privacy Shortcuts. According to the Menlo Park social media giant, privacy updates have been made in three key areas. These include language and design that involves providing an easy-to-interpret view, user experience that includes asking users to review the information, and How we notify people that involves informing users about the updated terms and data policy on Facebook, email, and via SMS.

"It's important people understand how we use data and the controls they have over their experience. In April, we introduced a clearer version of our terms and data policy and now we're beginning to notify people, starting with email and SMS notifications. People will also see information on Facebook in the coming weeks. We're not asking for new rights to collect, use or share your data on Facebook," said a Facebook spokesperson on the development.