Instagram and Facebook limit advertiser access to teenagers’ data
Christopher Hutton
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Advertisers’ access to teenagers’ data will be limited under a new set of rules implemented by Facebook and Instagram, which will also give teenagers the ability to choose to see fewer personalized ads.
The Big Tech platform announced on Tuesday that it is updating its advertising guidelines so that, starting next month, advertisers will not be allowed to target under-18 users with ads based on either their gender or their in-app activities. Ads targeting teenagers will only be allowed to do so through age and location data. These new updates to the Big Tech company’s advertising policy arrive as Irish and U.S. officials aim to regulate Facebook’s data collection habits.
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Meta will also update its rules to ensure that teenagers can see fewer ads if they desire. Starting in March, teenagers will have access to an expanded Ad Topic Controls setting, allowing them to choose to see fewer ads.
The update arrives days after Meta was fined $400 million by the Data Protection Commission, the Irish entity that protects privacy rights under European Union law, over its failure to acquire sufficient legal permission from users to track their data, a decision that could have negative effects on the company’s advertising revenue in Europe. Meta has claimed that the decision won’t prevent personalized advertising on Facebook.
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Civil groups have also called for Meta to cut back on its data-gathering practices when it involves teenagers. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has proposed legislation in the past that would protect children and teenagers’ privacy online, but the legislation has failed to gain momentum.