Our right to digital privacy

Anyone who has never been surprised by an ad about something very personal on Meta’s platforms probably doesn’t use the company’s products much. The precision of these ads raises unavoidable questions: how was that targeting built — and with what data? That is what this piece is about.

What Meta collects

According to Meta’s privacy policy, ad targeting combines different groups of user data:

• Personal data: age, gender and location.
• Interests: pages and influencers you follow, content you interact with.
• History: searches and interactions with other users, ads and pages.
• Viewing time: how long you stop on each post or story.
• Device: information about your device, such as model and precise location.

What we don’t know

There is no evidence that Meta uses conversations picked up by device microphones to optimise ads — but there is no evidence to the contrary either, since all user data can be processed by the platform.

The Accounts Center offers privacy settings and lets you mark ads as inappropriate, irrelevant or already purchased, as well as report them. Even so, marking an ad as irrelevant doesn’t always stop it from showing up for the same user. That suggests delivery is programmed to be persistent — probably influenced by the advertiser’s spend, the depth of targeting or the time spent on certain content.

Off the platform, too

Collection doesn’t end inside the apps. Meta also receives information from sites and apps that use its features, such as “Log in with Facebook” or pixels installed on web pages. When you visit a site, even your IP address can signal interest in a topic, making targeting even more precise — whatever the subject.

By accepting the terms of use, we agree to share all of this. The platform “guarantees” confidentiality and, at the same time, uses that data to serve precise ads. Some are so specific they suggest access to information we would rather not see “in the cloud”. Following an influencer doesn’t mean wanting every interaction to become targeting data.

The law and the platforms

Brazil’s General Data Protection Law (LGPD) came into force in 2020, but it may not keep pace with how fast the platforms evolve. Consistent, effective oversight to protect internet users’ data is still lacking.

Some companies have tightened their own rules. Apple, for example, introduced ATT (App Tracking Transparency), which requires apps to ask permission before tracking user activity across other apps and sites — and, also in 2020, it clashed with Meta over it.

When companies like Apple tighten their privacy protocols, we gain some protection. But that initiative should also come from the public sector. Then the internet could once again be a less invasive place when it comes to advertising — a market that moves billions of dollars a year in pursuit of performance. With that much personalisation power, only truly bad advertising would miss the chance to convert. And, believe me, that happens often.

What could change

Even with the LGPD, the way big platforms handle our privacy still shows disregard for the security of our data. We can hope for a law that updates at the same pace as the platforms, better protecting our right to privacy. And the platforms could offer more detailed, transparent permission controls.

This site doesn’t use Meta trackers. So, after about 5 minutes reading this piece to the end, I can guarantee: you won’t be targeted with ads about it. ;)

Image: Pexels