Facebook has been embroiled in not one, but two data privacy controversies in recent weeks, and so today the company responded by announcing plans to simplify its privacy settings.
First up, Facebook is redesigning its settings menu on mobile to make things easier to find. Settings will be accessible from a single page rather than spread out over 20 different pages, and outdated settings have been cleaned up.
A new Privacy Shortcuts menu is also rolling out to help give users better control over their data. Privacy Shortcuts can help you make your account more secure using features like two-factor authentication, review what data you've shared and delete it if you'd like, control the info Facebook uses to serve ads, and manage who sees your Facebook posts and profile info.
Another new section being added is called Access Your Information. As its name suggests, this section will let you manage info like posts, reactions, comments, and past searches. You can delete anything that you no longer want on Facebook.
The Access Your Information section will also let you download a secure copy of your data that you've shared with Facebook, including uploaded photos and contacts, posts on your timeline, and more.
Facebook likes to switch up its settings and menus, especially on mobile devices, so it's good to see the company committing to simplifying things for mobile users. That's especially true considering that these changes relate to Facebook's data privacy settings. Personal data privacy is important, and it should be easy for users to know exactly what data Facebook has about them and for them to be able to delete it if they want.
