Facebook regularly gets slammed for its privacy policy, but it's taking the criticism to heart, inviting suggestions on how to make its Data Use Policy document fairer to users. Last week, the social media giant released an updated draft of its policy statement, and it will host a live question-and-answer session on today, (May 14).
But unless you're a professional editor, lawyer or legislator — you may find Facebook's track-changes draft policy — full of cross-outs and insertions — a bit daunting.
The document is 14 pages long. Proposed changes and deletions are shown in red type. Facebook has added lightbulb icons to indicate sections that are tips for the user. But you'll still have to be an expert in tech lingo to decipher what they're talking about. (Is substituting "hash" for "encrypted" an improvement?)
"We’re adding more examples and detailed explanations to help you understand our policies," Erin Egan, Facebook's head of privacy policy, wrote on Friday's blog post. She said Facebook has added a new section explaining how the site uses cookies and other technologies and information about a new "Activity Log" where users can see everything they've posted to Facebook and decide which items to include on Timeline.
All the extra explanations are good in theory, but a bit tough to decipher in the draft documents themselves that are posted on Facebook's governance page. To find out more, tune in to today's live chat at 12:00 PM ET/9:00 AM PT and watch for our commentary following the event.