Facebook prevented UK-based Admiral Insurance from using data to profile its users this week in a decision that could have widespread ramifications for how companies collect info on the site. Admiral planned to launch an app targeted at first-time drivers that would analyze their Facebook profiles to determine what kind of driver they are. Some…

Most savvy Facebook users already understand that the social media site knows everything about us. However, a group of academics who published a recent study in Lancet Psychiatry Journal actually want Facebook to gather more information about us, and regarding a sensitive subject to boot: mental health. These experts argue that the bits and pieces…

More than 70 rights groups sent a letter to Facebook this week asking the site to clarify its content removal policies, especially regarding the social media giant’s compliance with government requests. “News is not just getting shared on Facebook: it’s getting broken there,” the letter reads. “When the most vulnerable members of society turn to…

Facebook allows advertisers to exclude ethnic groups from seeing ads, according to a new bombshell report from non-profit news organization ProPublica. The social media giant gives marketers many options for targeting their ads, including locations, preferences and interests. However, one of these categories is called “Ethnic Affinities” — and ads that exclude people based on…

Whenever you tag a friend in a Facebook photo, the social media giant stores their facial biometric information in a database. This (kind of creepy) data collecting practice will meet its first major test in the U.S. this week as a class action lawsuit filed against Facebook will proceed in court. This lawsuit was first…

A recent nationwide poll determined that 96 percent of social media users fear that social networks don’t protect their personal information. The study was a joint effort between the Red Campaign, Lincoln Park Strategies and the Craig Newmark Foundation, and served as a follow-up to a similar survey in 2014. According to this most recent…

Facebook will soon begin displaying more graphic content on its pages, including nudity and violence, as long as the content is considered “newsworthy” enough, according to a statement released by the social media giant late last week. “In the weeks ahead, we’re going to begin allowing more items that people find newsworthy, significant, or important…

Amnesty International released a report this week ranking 11 tech companies on the privacy their messaging platforms offer. Surprisingly, the organization’s report gave Facebook the highest possible score. The report took into account whether the messaging platforms offer encryption, whether the companies properly explain privacy issues to users and whether the companies disclose government requests…

Last week, it was revealed that Facebook and other major tech companies allowed a controversial surveillance tool to use data from social media to track protesters around the United States. Once it was revealed what Geofeedia, the tool in question, was doing, Facebook and the other sites cut off access to it. There were also…

A new feature in Facebook’s Messenger app was spotted last weekend that suggests “Conversation Topics” to users based on what their friends have recently done.  According to a screenshot posted by Uber Developer Experience Lead Chris Messina, Messenger shared the location where two of his friends had just traveled. According to TechCrunch, other conversation topics…