Facebook announced it is updating its Custom Audience Transparency features later this month providing users with a snapshot of why they are being targeted in ads, and when companies are downloading their data.
The company said in a post that the “Why am I seeing this?” explanations will be more detailed, providing users with information on which businesses have downloaded users’ data and why.
Facebook has demographic targets for its advertising that are based on a user’s profile, which includes age and gender. Its interest targeting come from pages that a user likes and follows and other ads that they have clicked on. A Facebook spokesperson said that political-related ad targeting uses “a variety of signals to determine if someone might be interested in that content.”
The post also mentioned that “on behalf of” agreements may impact the update—modification will have to be made for agencies who are advertising on behalf of another business. The agreements are opt-in, which gives advertisers the choice to sign one.
Facebook has been working to become more transparent with its users on breaches, data mining and advertising practices used on its platform. In December, the company hosted a New York City pop-up to help users learn more about targeted ads, and how to control their privacy within the app after major data breaches.
Update: This article has been updated to show some of the demographic, interest and political targets that advertisers can use. It also shows that the on behalf agreements are opt-in.
