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Desperate to Regain Trust, Facebook Refreshes Privacy Tools

'Last week showed how much more work we need to do to enforce our policies and help people understand how Facebook works,' the company wrote.

 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

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In an effort to gain back user trust and quell the #DeleteFacebook movement spurred by the Cambridge Analytica data leak, Facebook on Wednesday introduced new privacy tools and promised to make its existing ones easier to find in the coming weeks.

"Last week showed how much more work we need to do to enforce our policies and help people understand how Facebook works and the choices they have over their data," Facebook VPs Erin Egan and Ashlie Beringer wrote in a blog post. "We've heard loud and clear that privacy settings and other important tools are too hard to find and that we must do more to keep people informed."

For starters, the social network has redesigned the settings menu on mobile devices to, hopefully, make it easier to manage your account and see what type of data apps connected to it are accessing. These settings were previously spread out across almost 20 different screens; going forward, they will be accessible from one.

Also on tap is a new Privacy Shortcuts menu, which will let you "control your data in just a few taps," Egan and Beringer wrote. From there, you'll be able to enable two-factor authentication, review and delete things you've shared on the platform, tweak your ad preferences, and manage who sees your posts and profile information.

The social network also today introduced a tool called "Access Your Information," which will let you review your posts, reactions, comments, and things you've searched for, then delete anything you no longer want on your profile or the platform.

Facebook is also planning to make it easier to download a copy of all the data you've shared with the company. That data includes photos you've uploaded, contacts you've added to your account, posts on your timeline, and more.

Finally, expect some changes to Facebook's terms of service and data policy in the near future. The changes are intended to "better spell out what data we collect and how we use it," Egan and Beringer wrote, adding that this is "about transparency – not about gaining new rights to collect, use, or share data."

The new measures come after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week pledged to investigate all apps that had access to large amounts of user data before Facebook changed its rules in 2014, and further restrict current developers' access to data.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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