Facebook announced on Thursday that it is making it easier for users to understand its privacy policy by releasing a new animated guide.
Written in language that the average person can understand, the new "Privacy Basics" page walks users step-by-step through the site's most-used privacy features. The interactive education center features a blue dinosaur and other animated friends to help people adjust their settings.
While many might be annoyed that Facebook is making more changes to its privacy policy, most of the changes are minor. The interactive education center will feature 15 instructional videos in over 30 different languages. Users can also share links to friends to help spread the word.
"This new way of communicating with people, using animated cartoons, using a video format, we really hope this resonates with people and that they find it helpful," says Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan. "We're doing this in response to a demand that the privacy policy be clearer."
Facebook's interactive guide is aimed to be easy to navigate and easy to understand. Using a friendly dinosaur and friends, users can explore the changes, which are written in layman's terms. For example, the old policy defined "public information" as "the information you choose to make public, as well as information that is always publicly available."
The new policy is broken down as follows: "Public information is any information you share with a public audience, as well as information in your Public Profile, or content you share on a Facebook Page or another public forum."
But don't let the dino distract you. Though the privacy policy is easier to read, you still can't really control your data.
The "Privacy Basics" page will help educate users on how they their content is being used, especially when it comes to advertisers. Because Facebook now accepts payments, a section has also been added about how the California-based company handles private payment information.
Facebook is also expanding its new tool that allows users to give the social media platform more information about ads they want or don't want to see. This tool has already rolled out in North America and is now expanding to Europe. Users will now be able to see why they were shown marketing messages and have the option to remove "interests."
Facebook users have 30 days to explore, read, and comment on the new policy changes before the company makes a final review of the changes.
Photo Credit: Bhupinder Nayyar/Flickr
