Facebook forbids usage of its data by surveillance software

Facebook has changed the terms of use for developers of the social network. In the new terms the company now explicitly forbids to use data obtained from the social network to "provide tools that are used for surveillance".

ADVERTISEMENT

This can be read in a blogpost from Facebook's Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman.

The new terms are valid for both Facebook and Instagram. Previously competitor Twitter introduced similar measures after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) found out that Twitter's platform Dataminr was used by governments for surveillance.

Facebook states to be grateful for ACLU to bring public attention to these practices and for the cooperation on writing the new terms of the social network.

ADVERTISEMENT

The goal of Facebook, is according to the company, to make its policies explicit. According to the company it has taken enforcement actions against several developers who violated the company's policies by creating and marketing tools meant for surveillance.

No posts to display