EU data protection regulation: Facebook users need to know this

In the course of the new EU data protection regulation, Facebook also had to adapt its own guidelines in order to comply with the new regulation. In this article, we show you what you as a user should know and how you can effectively protect your data.

Facebook: EU data protection regulation strengthens the user

Since Facebook was criticized for passing data on to advertisers, the new regulation offers more protection for your data.

• The innovations mainly concern the transfer of data for personalized advertising. For you, this means that you must now consent so that Facebook can use your data for the advertising industry.
• In addition, a requirement for the consent of legal guardians for content that young people distribute on the Internet has been added. There is also a new contact point for parents, a parent portal that gives advice on how to use Facebook.
• Facebook's face recognition function is now subject to user approval. This function enables you and Facebook to recognize you in photos.
• The overview of your data, such as comments or old posts, has been made more accessible so that you can now call up the information directly in the settings.

How to protect your data

If you open the privacy settings on Facebook, you can manage the different access types.

• In the privacy menu you should first click on "Check some important settings". There you can choose who can see your personal information.
• In the same menu, select "Check face detection" to deactivate face detection entirely.
• Then click on "Check your advertising preferences" in the sub-section of the advertising preferences. Your interests are listed here, which can be used to suggest advertising to you. If you click in the corner if you are interested, the selected entry will be deleted.
• With "Advertisers with whom you interacted" you can also see the partners and remove them if necessary.
• Under "Your information" you can deactivate which of your data Facebook may use to adapt advertising to you. You can also deactivate all options there.
• Also new are the "Settings for advertisements" and special "advertising themes", which you can also selectively deselect.

We will show you in the next practical tip how you can permanently deactivate your account.